


A Heroic Touch

by starlightoffandoms (destinyofdreams)



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Canon-Typical Violence, Edward is a bit of a dork, F/M, Human Edward - Freeform, Mild Language, Nerdward, Recreational Drug Use, Sexual Content, Talk of Rape in the Past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-20 14:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 35,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3653874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destinyofdreams/pseuds/starlightoffandoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bella shows up new in town and working for Carlisle's special agency. Edward works for a comic book shop and falls for the new girl in town.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PinkNerds82](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkNerds82/gifts).



> this had previously been posted on ff.net years ago and was requested to be posted here. I can't remember the original title. For Mel.

                Edward dusted the large Batman statue at the front of the comic book store.  His shift had been uneventful.  He always worked the evening shift and unless it was a Wednesday or Thursday the evenings were slow.   He dusted everything and then cleaned the windows.  As he cleaned the windows the site of the most magnificent thing caught his eye.  It was a blue fully restored 1974 Charger.  He couldn’t take his eyes off of it.  Of course when the door opened and a beautiful lady got out of the car he was even more pleased.   

Edward groaned because he knew that someone that beautiful would never walk into his store.  She was probably a dainty girlie girl who would rather die than step into a comic book shop.  Edward turned back to the store and went to the back.  He pulled out the last shipment of tee shirts and began to tag them when he heard the bell on the front door.

“Be right there,” he called as he folded the shirt that he had in his hand and sat it with the others.

Edward went to the front of the store and didn’t see any one.  He shrugged and figured that someone had opened the wrong door as they passed.  It happened a lot when the place next door was a bar.  As he turned to go back to the back room the fiery hair caught his eye.  It was the Charger girl with her candy apple red hair. 

“Hey there,” she smiled at him as she turned around and saw him.

“Hi and welcome to Legends.  I haven’t seen you around here before.”

“I just moved in town.  I am so glad that you’re here.  I thought I was going to have to drive to Richmond for a comic shop and I hate dealing with the city,” she laughed.

“Right,” he managed as his knees went weak, “can I help you find anything?”

“I was actually,” she grabbed another comic and added it to her stack in her arms, “I was wondering what I needed to start a box.”

“Really?” Edward was shocked to say the least.

“Yeah,” she made her way to the counter.

“Sure.  Wow.”

“Don’t seem so at odds.  Some people like comics other than your usual types,” she sat her comics on the counter.

                “Awesome.  I mean, I like to have new clientele.  Here,” he handed her a form and a pen, “fill this out for me and I’ll get your box set up.”

                “Thanks,” she filled out the paper and handed it to him.

                “Wow very nice selection here.  Rex Mundi, League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Hell-boy, Anita Blake, Buffy, Wolverine, PVP and B.P.R.D.  Not bad at all.”

                “Thanks,” she smiled shyly.

                “Okay you're going to be box sixty-nine.  If you're ever missing anything out of your box feel free to come and let us know.”

                “Not a problem at all.”

                Edward tried to not stare at her as he rang up what she wanted to purchase.  She had her eyebrow pierced, he saw a few tattoos peeking from beneath her jacket, she had full lips and her skin was like smooth ivory kissed by almond.  He felt himself get excited just to be in her presence.  Edward handed her the receipt.  He put her comics in a bag and handed it to her.

                “Thanks so much for shopping at Legends.  Have a safe night.”

                “Thanks.  See you Wednesday.”

                Edward watched her walk away and he smiled.  Maybe there was hope for the world yet if someone as beautiful as her was into comics.  He used the label gun to put her last name on the box that would be hers.  He had never looked forward to anything as he did to next week.

                “Uh oh who is she?” Jacob asked as he came into store a while later.

                “Huh what?” Edward blinked back to reality.

                “The girl who has you smitten.  Your eyes had that glossed over look.”

                “No one.”

                “Are you sure?”

                “Okay maybe someone.”

                “I’m your best-friend if you do not spill to me I will tell everyone about the time in tenth grade when you wet yourself.”

                “Damn Jacob.  I don’t know her.  She just came in to buy some comics.”

                “Wow you should have shackled her to you.  A woman after your own heart.  Next time she comes in you should ask her out.”

                “I can’t do that.  I don’t even know her,” Edwaed leaned his elbows on the counter as he talked.

                “Well, how do you expect to get to know her if you don’t ask her out?”

                “Damn you and your valid points.”

                “Bring her next door and I’ll make sure you don’t do anything stupid,” Jacob said.

                “That sounds perfect.”

                “Well I better get back to work.  I was just on my ten minute break.  See ya.”

                “Later.”

                Edward made it through the night and closed up the store.  He locked the door and walked down the sidewalk to the bar Jacob worked at.  He pulled Jacob’s ponytail as he passed on his way to the bar.  He took a seat at the bar and waved to the bartender.  Rose walked over to him.

                “Hey Rose what’s up?”

                “Not much.  It’s been slow this evening surprisingly,” Rose placed a paper coaster in front of him, “what can I get you this evening?”

                “Coke and rum hold the rum,” he smiled.

                “You are such a dork,” she laughed all the same and filled him a glass with coke.

                Edward stayed until Jacob’s shift ended as he did every Friday evening.  He had played some darts and a game of pool then when Jacob clocked out they headed back to their apartment.

                “So have you planned how you're going to ask out your mystery girl?”

                “Not yet.  I think I’ll just come out and ask if she wants to have a drink.”

                “Perfect be forward.  I’m heading to bed.  I have to get up and help David with his move in the morning.”

                “Sure.  See ya tomorrow.”

                Edward disappeared to his room as well.  He jumped in the shower then changed into his pajamas.  As he went to close his blinds the most wonderful thing caught his eye.  It was Isabella.  She lived in the same complex.  Her window was across the courtyard from his.  Then he realized she was in a towel and was about to drop it.  He closed his blinds quickly as he felt like a pervert.  She had moved into old man Jenkins apartment.  His family had shipped him to a retirement home.  His apartment had been empty for almost a year.  He was glad that Isabella had rented it.  Isabella Swan.  He had memorized her application for her box.  He would never tell anyone that tidbit of information.  Edward climbed into bed with a huge smile on his face as his eyes slipped shut.


	2. At First Sight

                Edward woke early the next morning and dressed quickly.  He went to his window and threw the curtains open.  Her window was shut and what looked like heavy burgundy drapes were drawn.  He did realize that it was seven in the morning and normal people who work Monday to Friday tended to sleep late on the weekend.  Edward made himself and Jacob breakfast and waited for his roommate to get up.  Jacob appeared a few minutes later.

                “Hey what are you doing up so early?”

                “She lives across the way.”

                “Who?”

                “The girl from the comic shop.  Isabella lives across the way.  When I was going to bed I Iooked out as I was closing my window and there she was,” he said as he filled a glass with orange juice.

                “Wow that is good for you.  Which apartment?”

                “Old man Jenkins’ old apartment.”

                “Holy cow that is right across from you.  No peeking at her,” Jacob teased.

                “I’ll try not to.”

                They ate breakfast quietly then Jacob went to help his friend move.  Edward went to the mailbox and looked at her name on the box.  Bella had put a PO Box on her application as her mailing address so he was ecstatic that she was going to be close.  For a moment the sane side of him whispered to him that stalking was illegal.  He went back to his apartment and thought about what he would say to her.  Edward paced around the apartment as he thought about her.  He had her number from the application but he couldn’t call because then she might get mad.

                Edward plopped down on the couch and stared at the blank screen of the television.   He knew one more thing about her.  Bella had money.  The complex that they lived in was not for the middle class or below.  He had his parents to thank since they paid for his apartment and Jacob was there to make sure he stayed out of trouble. 

Jacob was the only one who knew that Edward didn’t have to work.  It had been something that he had kept secret from the crowd of people that had become his friends at college.  He knew that money made people weird.  Jacob had grown up with him and never thought differently about him just because he as wealthy.  Edward had chosen the job at Legends just for fun.  When they had to cut hours he was always the first to volunteer for the cut since his co-workers relied on the income.  He wondered what it was that Bella did for a living.

                Edward shook his head to clear his mind of the girl he had met.  He grabbed his head set, controller, turned on his Xbox and logged onto Call of Duty.  He knew he could kill time in his second favorite place.  He completed a few hours of realistic violence then got up.  It was mid afternoon and he peeked out the window from his bedroom.  Her curtains were still pulled. He sighed decided he’d wait till Wednesday to ask her out.  As he pulled his shoes on his cell phone rang.

                “Yellow.”

                “Green,” Emmett responded.

                “Hey Em,” Edward tied his shoes and grabbed his wallet.

                “Hey Jasper wants to know if you're coming over for poker?”

                “When are you guys starting?”

                “In like an hour.”

                “Cool I’ll be there.”

                “Grab some red stripe on your way.”

                “Not a problem.  See ya in a bit,” he hung up and grabbed his jacket.

                Edward went to the parking garage and got in his Volkswagen.  He stopped and picked up the beer then headed across town to his brothers house.  He pulled up in front of the house that had been given to Jasper and his wife when they wed by his parents.

                “Edward good to see you,” Alice greeted him as he came in, “the boys are in the game room.”

                “Thanks Alice.  How drunk are they?”

                “They just started so they’re slightly still coherent,” she laughed as she took the beer from him and put it in the fridge.

                “I’m sorry that you're going to have to deal with them.”

                “Em brought over the hash so it’s going to be a wild night,” she laughed.

                Edward shook his head and walked down the hall to the game room that had been added on so she could lock him away.  As soon as he entered there was cheering of his presence.  He smiled warmly and greeted his brothers and friends.

                “You're right in time.  We just lit up,” Michael said and passed to him.

                “Thanks,” he took a drag and handed it to Emmett.

                “I brought this back with me mate when I came home from Queensland.  It’s some of the best out there right now.”

                “It sure is.”

                Edward played several hands and drank just enough to feel the buzz from the alcohol and marijuana.  He stopped himself and switched over to coffee and water before he was ready to go.  He had a rule that he would never drive intoxicated.  He made sure he had sobered up before he headed home that evening.  Edward loved his brothers and they knew how to have a good time.  They had both married wonderful women and he hoped one day he would as well.  He made it home in one piece and went to his room.  Immediately he noticed that her drapes had been opened and her lights were on.  He had sobered up from the alcohol but the marijuana still hummed inside of him.  That made him bold.  He showered and dressed before he left the house he hadn’t wanted to smell too much of smoke when he went to her door.

                Edward made his way across the court yard to Bella’s building.  He took the elevator to her floor and got out.  He stood outside of the elevator and wondered what the heck he had been thinking.  He couldn’t just go and intrude on her at home time.  He turned and went back to his apartment.  He went straight to his pantry and pulled out a bottle of wine.  He found some ribbon and made a bow for the bottle.  Edward pulled the cheese tray and headed to her apartment again.  He knocked on her door and waited.

                “Who is it?” she called through the door.

                “Building welcome committee.”

                Edward heard her locks click and she opened the door.  It took all his strength to not drop everything.  Bella stood before him in a short black and red dress with knee high black boots and her hair French braided to reveal her long neck.  Most of her tattoos were on display.  He was shocked that there were no outwardly girly images.  A lot of thought and planning had gone into the art that was displayed across her back and peeked over her shoulders.  He followed her into her apartment.

                “How many of you guys are there?  I just had the brownie and cookie lady an hour ago,” Bella laughed as she took the bottle from him.

                “Three actually,” his knees wobbled as her laugh echoed in his mind, “dessert lady, the wine barer and then you’ll meet Goulash lady.”

                “Well you're right in time.  I could use some wine before I go out,” she sat the glasses down and grabbed her corkscrew and opened the bottle.

                “I also brought cheese and crackers,” he sat the tray down on the table.

                “Put it in the fridge.  I’ll be having dinner out so I don’t want to fill up,” she called from the livingroom.

                “Okay,” Edward opened the fridge and found it weird that there were only beverages in there no food at all.  She did just move in there’s still boxes in the living room, he thought as he sat the tray inside.

                “This is good,” Bella replied as he returned and held out a glass to him.

                “Thanks.  My father picked it out.  He’s a sort of vino expert,” Edward took the glass from her.

                “Cool.  You're the guy from the comic book store,” she said as realization dawned on her.

                “Yes.  Edward.  I thought you recognized me and that was why you let me in.”

                “Oh no I pretty much let in whoever knocks on my door.”

                “That sounds dangerous.”

                “Don’t worry Edward,” Bella smirked at him, “I can take care of myself.”

                “Okay.  So where are you going out tonight Isabella?”

                “I met some new friends in town and they’re taking me out on a girl’s night out.  Do you think I look ok?” Bella turned for him.

                “Y-yea you look wonderful.”

                “Good.  I wasn’t sure how the scene was around here.”

                Edward was sure that she was making small talk to him and everything but he was lost.  Bella was beautiful.  She wasn’t like other women in Dorchester, Va.  She wasn’t disgustingly thin with fake breasts and too much Botox.  Bella was genuinely gorgeous with her voluptuous curves and natural beauty she had been born with.  Then he heard his name.  He met her eyes.

                “You zoned out there for a minute.”

                “Yeah sorry,” he rubbed his neck nervously and sipped his wine.

                “It’s okay I do that sometimes.  Ya know you get into a zone and have to finish the stare before you can look away.  It’s so totally normal.”

                “Yea.  Who’s Madi?”

                “Hm?” Bella jerked her head up and looked at him. 

Bella’s brown eyes flashed blue for a moment and he took a step back.

                “On the back of your neck.  It’s the only word in English.”

                “She’s someone who is very close to me,” she poured him some more wine.

                “Okay.  Did the same artist do all of your tattoos?” he realized the topic needed a quick change.

                “Yup Mike Ivey.  The best.  He moved to Richmond so I had to make a move to get closer to him.”

                “Really?”

                “No silly.  My job brought me out here.  I’m just glad to be closer to him.  I haven’t had any new ink in two years.  It’s just a good perk that he’s here too.”

                “Oh okay.  Where do you work at?”

                “I do translation of texts and documents.”

                “Oh so you work for the government?” Edward nodded.

                “Yeah.  Federal translators work a lot this day and age.  Especially when you speak all six of the major languages and five others.”

                “Wow.  That is amazing.”

                “I don’t know working in a comic store is more my speed.  I’ve just gotten accustomed to a certain life style and I have to keep it up,” Bella said as she finished another glass of wine.

                “It’s fun I guess.”  _I would totally let you not work.  I have enough money for both of us the rest of our lives._

                “Something else ran across your mind that you're not saying,” she stepped closer to him.

                “Nothing at all.”

                “Sure it was nothing,” Bella lowered her voice.

                “Uh what time are you supposed to be meeting your friends?”

                “They’ll be here momentarily,” she sat her empty glass on the table and backed him to a wall.

                “Uh,” Edward felt all his blood rush downward to his most private area.

                “Edward,” Bella said his name slowly.

                “Yeah,” it was more of a breath than an actually word.

                “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

                “Not usually,” Edward whispered as she trailed her manicured nails down his chest.

                “Me neither.  I do believe in instant animal attraction though.”

                There was a knock on the door.  She grinned mischievously up at him and brushed her hand over his groin before she turned on heel and answered her door.

                “Hey there Ms. Bells. You ready to roll?” a very curvy black woman entered followed by a cute blonde.

                They were both dressed just as teasingly as Bella was.  She smiled as she let them in.

                “Yeah give me a moment.”

                “Ooh who’s the cutie?”

                “This is Edward.  He’s part of the welcoming committee.”

                “Well I will surely welcome him.”

                “Mm hm,” the blonde agreed.

                “Edward this is Jana and Kelley.  Please excuse their behavior they have no home training,” she laughed.

                “Hello ladies.  Have a fun night,” he quickly disappeared out the door.

                Edward raced back to his apartment and went straight to his bathroom.  He had to relieve the tension.  Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was the fact that she was attracted to him too but she had definitely pushed up on him quickly.  His hand was slick on his thick length as images of her pouty mouth and delicate hands flooded his mind.  It wasn’t long before he released.  Edward cleaned up and went to the kitchen in search of something harder than wine.

                “Oh man Eddie my friend.  We live in the best complex,” Jacob said as he entered, “three of the most foxy ladies _ever_ greeted me on my way in.”

                “Let me guess. A blonde, a black girl and a candy apple red head,” he threw back a shot of Petron.

                “Yes how did you know?”

                “The red head is Isabella the girl from the store.”

                “Wow.  You have excellent taste.  She was gorgeous.  Almost as hot as the ebony goddess that was with her.”

                “They’re very nice.  We had just talked a bit before they left.”

                “We could so double date.  If you hook up with her you have to introduce me to her friend.”

                “If I can muster up the nerve to return and talk to her I will.”

                “Was it that bad?” Jacob sat next to him on the couch.

                “Not that much.  I just get so nervous around her.  We drank half a bottle of wine before I got comfortable and then she had to go.”

                “You got her drunk and still nothing?”

                “Not drunk.”

                “Wow.  Next time man.  Next time.”

                Edward thought forward to Wednesday when he knew for sure he would see her again.  He had plenty of time to think about what she had said. Instant animal attraction. He hoped to find out exactly what that meant.


	3. Charming

                Edward woke Wednesday excited.  He hadn’t run into Bella since he had gone to her apartment so he looked forward to seeing her when she picked up her comics. He and Jacob had breakfast together.  Jacob left for class and Edward sat down at his Xbox. 

                After a few hours logged into his Xbox he showered.  He pulled out his issues of Spawn and caught up with the reading he had missed out.  Edward checked her window and the drapes were still pulled shut.  He remembered the thick merlot upholstery drapes that hung on all the windows that faced east. He headed to work.  The beginning of his shift was quiet.  Then when the five o’clock hour rolled around and people were getting off of work things picked up.

                Edward watched the clock the entire time he was there.  He gathered the comics that belonged in her box and placed them there.  He even slipped one of his favorite comics in, The Squad.  He took his lunch break and sat alone at his usual table in Panera.  Edward got back to work and looked at the clock and Bella’s box.  She hadn’t been in yet.  Maybe Bella wasn’t as dedicated as he hoped.  At nine he locked the door and flipped the sign to close.  Edward sighed as he turned off the lights.  He was in the middle of counting down his draw when the taps sounded on the glass door.  He hated when people came late and begged entrance even though it was obvious the store was closed. He ignored it until it got persistent. Edward ran a hand through his copper coloured hair and went to the front.  He couldn’t help but smile.

                Bella waved at him as he approached the door. Edward stopped at the door and pointed playfully at the sign that had their hours.  Bella placed her hands together like a prayer and stuck out her lip.  He crossed his arms over his chest and she batted her thick lashes.  Edward smiled and opened the door.  He let Bella in and locked the door behind her.  She rushed to her box and grabbed her comics.  She placed them on the counter not even checking to make sure they were all there.

                “I am so sorry I’m running late.  I’m paying with debit so you don’t have to recount your drawer or anything.  I don’t know what I would’ve done without my comic fix this evening,” Bella laughed and handed him her card.

                “Don’t tell anyone.  People beg and I usually am stead fast about not letting anyone in.”

                “Yeah this is our secret.  The first of many,” Bella winked at him as she pushed in her pin code.

                Edward gulped at her flirtatious tone as his blood ran warm through him.  He bagged the comics and handed her the receipt.

                “Thanks for shopping and you have a safe night,” he said as he came around to let her out.

                “Why so formal?  We’re neighbors and you’ve been in my place.”

                “Just habit.”

                “And what if I don’t want to have a safe night?” Bella peered up at him from behind her lashes.

                “I-I-I don’t know.”

                “I’m feeling kind of dangerous,” Bella voice hit the low tone that made his legs tremble.

                “Th-then I guess be careful w-while you're out being d-dangerous.”

                There was a moment of silence between them.  His eyes roamed over her face and body.  She licked her lips and he licked his.

                “I’m not saying for you to rush or anything but I’ll be at Excelsior.”

                Edward watched her walk out the door and to her car to put her bag in then headed to the bar.  He didn’t bother to lock the door back.  Edward rushed through closing procedures and locked the store up.  He ran a comb through his hair before he entered and slipped it back in his pocket.  Edward slipped a breath strip in his mouth and entered the bar.  Everyone greeted him since he was a regular there and his brother owned the bar.  Rosalie handed him a coke and pointed to the back booth.  She smiled at him and gave thumbs up.  He grew nervous as he made his way to the booth.  Edward hadn’t expected her friends to be there as well.

                “There you are my little sparrow.  Come and sit with us,” she patted the spot by her side, “you remember Kelley and Jana.”

                “Evening ladies.”

                “Hi again handsome,” Kelley smiled wickedly at him.

                “You're not going to run away this time are you?” Jana asked as he sat beside Bella.

                “No,” he blushed, “I had to get back I had left a roast in the oven.”

                “Hm okay.  If you say so.  I think you were intimidated by our beauty,” Kelley said as she sipped her Cosmo.

                “Again my friends have no home training at all,” Bella shot them a look.

                “So Edward how long have you been in Dorchester?” Kelley asked.

                “Most of my life.  My family is here and this is where I grew up.”

                “Cool,” Jana made a mental note.

                “What do you do for a living?” Kelley asked and took another sip.

                “I work next door at the comic book store,” he said a little nervous.

                “There’s no way.  You have to work somewhere else to afford a place like Kinstone,” Jana’s hand flew to her mouth as soon as the words were out.

                “I have the privilege of being on a scholarship that pays for room and board,” Edward lied flawlessly.

                “Oh okay.”

                “Excuse me but the gentleman at the bar would like you to have this,” the waitress placed another Cosmo in front Kelley.

                They all turned and looked to the bar. Kelley pushed the drink back to the waitress and shook her head.

                “Why not?” Bella asked.

                “He looks like Jesus.  You know my rule.  No one who looks like a religious figure.  You remember what happened with the last guy who looked like Jesus,” she turned to the waitress, “you can tell him that.  That way he knows it’s not just him.”

                “Alright,” she picked the drink back up with a smile.

                “Harsh,” Edward said.

                “Sorry.  I just have a type and he was not it.”

                “Ooh but the two fellas over by the pool table are definitely our type,” Jana said and grabbed her hand, “we’ll be back.”

                Bella laughed as her friends disappeared.

                “I missed you a bit,” Bella whispered to see what reaction she would get from him.

                “How about comic con?” Edward nervously sipped at his drink pretending that it was mixed drink.

                “I know I cannot wait,” her eyes shined at the mention of the widely popular convention.

                “Do you know what or who you're going as?”

                “Not yet.  Princess Leia is out because she is over done.  I’m thinking Lady Deathstrike, Saya or Elektra.”

                “Great choices.” _I’d totally be you're Daredevil if you go as Elektra_.

                “There you go thinking something else but not speaking it,” Bella smiled at him.

                “It’s nothing,” Edward felt himself blush.

                “What are you going as?”

                “Not sure yet.”

                “We could go as a pair,” she looked up at him for the first time since they had met she looked shy.

                “That could be cool,” he put his hands in his lap so she couldn’t see them.

                “Hey Edward,” Jacob was at the table.

                “Hey Jake.  What’s up?” he did the man handshake fist bump back slap greeting and sat back down.

                “Not much.  Just making the rounds.  Its going well since Rosie decided to listen to me and have a college night,” he looked passed him and smiled, “who is your lovely acquaintance?”

                “Oh this is Isabella.  She’s the new tenant.  Isabella this is my roommate Jacob.”

                “Roommate,” she allowed him to kiss her hand.

                “Strictly platonic,” Jacob assured her as he let her hand go, “don’t let the long hair fool ya.  I am 100% into the ladies.”

                “That’s good to know.  Two very attractive men in the building.”

                “Double the fun,” Jacob winked and headed off to manage the rest of his area.

                “I like him,” she chuckled.

                “He likes your friend Jana.”

                “Hm well we’ll have to make sure they meet.  Hopefully she won’t maul him.  She’s very into guys with long hair and a great smile,” she said as she traced her fingers along his arm.

                Edward choked on the sip he took of his drink.  Edward looked up at her and would have sworn her eyes had been brown when they first met.  As he stared into her eyes now they were blue.  He felt the pulse in his throat thud quickly against his skin.  He had gotten nervous again.  Edward had never had women hit on him so he didn’t know what to do.

                “I, uh, I…I have to go to the restroom.”

                Edward darted from the table to the bathroom.  He pulled out his phone and text Emmett.  He was the ladies man before he had gotten married.  He groaned at his response.  Emmett told him to man up and hit that before the night was over.  Emmett also said to think with his heart and not his penis.  Bella could be the one.  Edward got nervous because he wasn’t ready for the one.  At least he didn’t think he was.  He splashed water on his face and wished his pending erection away.  All she had done was touch his arm and he was excited.  He made his way back to the booth once he had himself in control.  Bella was not there.  He looked around and didn’t spot her.  He let out a sigh of defeat.  He had messed up.  He flopped down in the booth and rested his head on his arms.

                “You okay sparrow?” her velvety voice rang above him.

                “Yes sorry,” he hoped his smile wasn’t as scary as he imagined it was in his mind.

                “I went to the ladies room,” she explained her absence, “I brought you a fresh drink.”

                “Thanks,” he took the drink from her.

                Bella took up her seat next to him.  Edward knew that they held a conversation but he could not remember any of it.  She had brought him an actual rum and coke.  He was not a heavy weight.  It would not take much for him to get drunk. 

Bella ordered him two more drinks and he finished them both.  He felt almost as if she meant to get him tipsy.  Bella pulled him to the newly installed dance floor.  He kept space between them so he wouldn’t grope her.  Edward knew it would only take her brushing against him and he would have his hands all over her and he was not ready for that.  They hadn’t even been on a date.  He wasn’t big into dancing but she led well and he kept in step with her.

                “Hey,” Jana danced up next to them.

                “Bells we have to go,” Kelley said as she moved up next to them as well.

                “Oh man is it that late already?”

                “Yeah time flies when you’re having fun,” Kelley winked at her.

                “Well Edward I must be going.  I’ve had some fun tonight.”

                “Hey uh,” he followed her as she went to grab her things from the booth, “I’ve kinda ya know got band practice tomorrow.  We uh practice in the basement.”

                “Are you inviting me to watch you play?” she smiled teasingly at him.

                “Y-yes I am, I guess,” he ran his hand through his hair.

                “What time?”

                “8:30.”

                “She’ll be there,” Kelley said as she dragged her to the door.

                 Edward smiled and sat down.  He had asked her out.  He was proud of himself.  Then he frowned.  He had invited her to watch him at band practice.  He hadn’t thought about that.  He hated when people watched him play on just a solo basis.  He didn’t mind the crowds but when it was just one person he got stage fright.  What had he been thinking?

****

                Jacob laughed at Edward as he paced back and forth in the room they rented for their band in the basement.  He sat behind the drums as he waited for Edward to calm down.  Marty had made fun of his nerves when it was only going to be one person.

                “Calm down.  She’ll be here in a few and the last thing you want is for her to see that you're a dork,” Wade said.

                “Okay. I’m good now.  I just have to get in the mood.  No songs where I have vocals I don’t think I’ll be able to play and sing.”

                “That leaves like three songs,” Wade said as he ran his fingers over the keyboard.

                “Five actually,” David said as he tuned his guitar.

                “Hey fellas,” Bella walked in wearing low rise dark blue jeans, flip flops and a blue baby tee.

                Edward swallowed.  He had seen her in different outfits for some reason when she looked the most causal he felt she was her sexiest.

                “G-guys this is Isabella.”

                “Hey Isabella.”

                “You know Jacob he’s our drummer.”

                “Which is why he’s behind the drums,” she smirked at him.

                “Yeah.  Marty is the lead singer, Wade is there on keys and David is on guitar.”

                “Nice to meet you guys.  Jana and Kelley will be here momentarily.  So let me hear what you guys sound like.”

                “Alright.  Let’s start with ‘Daylight’,” Marty said because it was the song that Edward had the bass solo on.

                They began to play and Edward focused on his hands and tried not to think that his crush was there.  When he heard his vocal cues he hit them all.  Then it was his solo.  Edward just closed his eyes and let it flow from him.  They finished that song and launched into the next song.  Half way through unexpectedly the drums fell out.  Edward opened his eyes and looked at Jacob.  He followed his eyes to the door.  Edward smiled.  At least he wasn’t that bad.  Even in causal wear her friends were very attractive as well.  Especially in the form fitting jeans.  That gave him a little courage since he knew he was cooler than Jacob.  They never stopped they acted as if the drums were meant to fall back.  They finished the song and they laughed at Jacob’s reaction.  The girls looked at them like they were insane.

                “Wow you guys are good.  I’m not going to lie I thought you were going to suck,” Bella said with an easy laugh.

                “Some of us are very good and not easily distracted,” Edward pointedly looked at Jacob who blushed.

                “Play another.  I want to hear a whole song,” Kelley said eyeing Wade.

                “Sure. Let’s do ‘Devastated’,” Marty said because it was Wade’s moment to shine.

                Marty was never slow to catch on.  He saw the way that Kelley looked at Wade and wanted to make sure that he had a chance to actually play.  He had picked the slower more romantic less metal song.  It would also give Edward a chance to shine and Jacob a chance to breathe since there weren’t any drums all he had to do was shake the maracas.  They went through a few other songs then called practice to an end.

                “I think that was one of our best practices,” Wade said as he took a swig from a water bottle.

                “Holy shit,” Kelley exclaimed then covered her mouth and turned away.

                “What part of Australia are you from?” Bella asked as she kept her laughter back.

                “Originally Perth then moved to Queensland as a teen.  Moved here when I was nineteen. How’d you know I was from Australia? Most people guess the UK.”

                “My roommate in college was from New South Wales and her boyfriend was from Perth.  You have the same warm accent.”

                “Awesome.”

                “Well we have to get going.  Next date should be a meal,” Bella directed at Edward and left with her friends.

                “They are very adorable group there mate,” Wade said, “especially the blonde.  Which one was she?”

                “Kelley.  I think she likes you too.”

                “Jacob you are such a punk by the way.  How are you just going to stop in the middle of the song?”

                “I don’t know,” he stood in the middle of the floor.

                “Someone is love stoned and hasn’t even said hi to her.”

                “I’m going to shower and hit the Xbox.”

                “Final Fantasy or Call of Duty?”

                “Final Fantasy.”

                “I’ll meet you on there.”

                “Okay.”

                Edward showered and sat at his Xbox.  She had thought of it as a date.  He giggled then cleared his throat as he realized that it had sounded very feminine.  He had a plan.  He was going to stick with it.


	4. Potential

                Edward was extremely nervous.  When he allowed his nerves to get to him he worked out.  So he made his way down to the gym.  Edward had put off asking her out several times in the last week.  There had been opportunities that were potentially great for him to ask her out but he just didn’t have the courage.  He was on the elliptical in his first round of cardio when something in the mirror caught his eye.  Edward wasn’t used to anyone being in the gym with him that time of night.  His motions faltered as he realized it was Bella.  She hadn’t noticed him because she was on the other side where the treadmills were lined up against the wall.  Bella had her hair pulled up in a ponytail and she wore black and white fitted sweats and a sports tank top.

                Edward got his rhythm back and kept up until he was done and moved to the weight room.  He watched as Bella stretched then got on a treadmill.  She put in her ear buds and turned on her music.  Bella laid her comic out so she could read while she jogged.  Edward listened to her laugh and he almost fell as he went to do his squats.  Edward paused a few moments then started again.  He left there and went to the bench press.  Edward chose the bench where he could still see her but she wouldn’t be able to see him.  His brain whispered again about the stalker laws. 

Edward did his normal twenty reps then got up.  Bella had moved to the free weight area and lifted dumbbells.  His mouth fell open as he moved to the treadmill area.  Bella lifted almost as much as he did.  Edward realized she was toned but she didn’t look that muscular. He felt a bit intimidated by that and steered clear so she wouldn’t see him.  Edward went to the treadmill for his last bit of cardio.  She returned to the treadmills a few minutes later.  Bella smiled and turned off her music.

                “Hey Edward.”

                “Oh hi.  I’ve never had any one down here at this hour.”

                “I like to work out when no one else is here,” Bella stepped on and started the treadmill by him.

                “Cardio, resistance, cardio?”

                “Nope.  Cardio, resistance, cardio, resistance, and sauna,” she smiled.

                “Wow that’s a tough reg.  I feel like I need to step it up to keep up with you.”

                “I like to stay in shape.”

                “You're not in a bad shape at all,” Edward’s hand flew to his mouth, “I mean…”

                “No worries.  I’m ok with you checking me out.  I know I look good.  You're easy on the eyes as well,” Bella chuckled.

                “Thanks,” he blushed.

                A silence fell between them as he made his way through his cool down.  Bella had turned her music back on and hummed to it.  He had his hands clasped to the bars because he shook too bad.  The silence wasn’t uncomfortable just there when he had something to say.  Edward glanced down at his timer.  He had five more minutes and his cool down would be over.  Edward saw Bella turn her music off.  Then the silence got thick with anticipation. His timer beeped at the same time as hers.  He failed to recognize it and when the belt stopped he went to take another step and fell. He caught the laughter in her eyes as she reached out a hand to aid him.

                “You okay?” Bella managed without laughing.

                “Yes thank you,” Edward knew his face was as red as Iron Man’s costume.

                They wiped the machines down and she headed to the weight area he had left.  Edward inhaled and turned around.  Bella had stopped and pretended to tie her shoe.  He walked over to her.

                “Hey Isabella.  I, uh, I’m like off tomorrow and stuff.  Would you like to uh go to lunch?” Edward rubbed the back of his neck and looked everywhere but her face.

                “Hm,” Bella stood up, “I can’t.”

                “Oh,” he hung his head in defeat.

                “I can’t because I work.  So dinner would be better,” she smiled gently at him.

                “Oh,” Edward’s head popped up and a wide grin crossed his face, “excellent.  I’ll come over and get you about seven and we can go to Roma’s.”

                “I’ll meet you there about 7:30.”

                “Perfect.”

                “See ya later sparrow.”

                Edward walked with a hop in his step as he took the stairs to his apartment.

****

                “A real date that is so awesome.  You are totally brave man.  I am so happy for you,” Jacob said as they played Burn Out.

                “I know.  I can’t believe it. I picked a place that isn’t too casual or dress up.  That way I’m comfortable and she can wear whatever.”

                “Good thinking.  Have you asked about her fridge?”

                “No.  That is none of my business.  Plus she had just moved in.  You remember how much take out we had until we actually went grocery shopping.”

                “You mean until Mrs. Esme had your housekeeper come and get groceries for us.”

                “Yeah.  I didn’t know anything back then about grocery shopping.  We’re adults now so we know more.”

                “How long are you going to hide the fact that you're stinking rich from her?”

                “Until at least our third date.  It all depends on how well things go.”

                “So about the same time you tell her about you being a virgin.”

                “Yeah I guess so.  No sense in bringing any of that up until I know we’re going to be in it for the long run and not just a fling,” Edward nodded as he focused on the game.

                “If she is the one don’t you want to get some practice before you seduce her out of her panties?”

                “No.  I waited this long I can wait and see what happens.  Plus I want it to be someone that’s more than just to pop my cherry.  It should be special.”

                “This isn’t a chick flick.  Your first time isn’t going to be in some candle lit bedroom with soft music and a fire place.  It’ll probably be in a bed though or back seat of a car.”

                “I know it isn’t going to be magical but I don’t want the same thing to happen to me that it did you no offense.”

                “None taken.  Who knew that women could be so heartless?  I wouldn’t have slept with her if I knew all she wanted was sex.  I actually loved her. That bitch,” Jacob’s eyes darkened with anger as he pushed buttons on the controller.

                “Some women are worse than men.  How many have you had since Gabrielle?”

                “Two.  I’ve taken a vow of celibacy now.  I am going to wait for the right one.”

                “We are one of a kind.  Other guys would laugh at us.”

                “Some very lucky women will come along and we will give them everything,” Jacob shrugged.

                “You know it.”

                “So what are you going to talk about at dinner?”

                “I don’t know.  I have some topics I’ve written down.  All the books I’ve read says to leave out religion, family, and politics on a first date.”

                “Well you know she like comics so that is a start.  Then you have music, fashion, movies, and books.  That should make it through at least the main course.”

                “I hope I can remember all that.”

                “Don’t take any note cards.  Only geeks take note cards.”

                “You do realize I work at a comic store and have thousands of dollars worth of collectable memorabilia.”

                “This makes you a nerd not a geek.  I swear it.  Geeks play magic the gathering, do math for fun and would never just get a high score on Burn Out.  Awesome dude,” Jacob slapped him a high five.

                “Thanks for aiding in the high score,” Edward saved and turned off the console.

                “Is it my turn to cook?” Jacob asked as he stood up.

                “Yup.”

                “What do you want for lunch?”

                “Surprise me.”

                Edward knew he would probably regret that but he didn’t want to think about anything else except his date with Bella.

               

                Jana and Kelley opened the back doors of the SUV.  The garage was underground so no sunlight was present.  Bella got out of the back and they made sure they had all their equipment.  They synchronized their watches and got on the elevator.

                “He’s on the fourth floor.  The hall is lined with windows so you won’t be able to go there.  We have acquired the apartment above his.  Jana and I have made a lift in the master bedroom closet.  The apartment has been prepared for you,” Kelley relayed as she made sure her guns were loaded.

                “How many body guards are there?”

                “Six.  Kells and I can handle them,” Jana rolled her garrote together and placed it on her hip clip, “he’ll pull in through there.  We have five minutes set on the watches.  If it takes us longer than that give us an extra two minutes,” Jana said as she pulled on her gloves that were padded over the knuckles.

                They stopped at the fourth floor and Kelley and Jana got out.  They turned on their timers and Bella went up to the next floor.  She unlocked the door and went straight to the master bedroom.  Bella stood in the closet and waited for the floor to give and the mark to be pulled through.  Five minutes had passed and she looked again and waited the two extra minutes.  She was about to go check on them when the floor shifted.  The man coward in the back of the empty closet.

                “Isabella! No I swear, I swear I won’t do it again.”

                “Too late for that.  You do not feed on children it is our number one rule,” Bella pulled the katana from her back.

                “Please.”

                “Goodnight Dominic.”

                With one clean swipe his head separated from his shoulders.  Bella said his last rites in Italian and bagged the head.  She carved his heart out with her knife and bagged it as well.  Bella placed both bags in her knapsack.  Jana and Kelley showed up a few minutes later.

                “Bastard had a gang of Dobermans and Jana wouldn’t let me shoot them.  That’s what took a few more minutes.  She wanted to put them all asleep.  The guards were not a problem.”

                They cleaned up the mess in the closet and the floor.  Kelley sprayed the luminal to make sure they had gotten the blood.  They had bagged the body and went back to the fourth floor.  They left it there with the others.  Jana called a clean up crew and her friend from the animal rescue place where she took animals she came across in the line of duty.  They loaded back into the SUV and Jana drove to the downtown office that was their headquarters since they moved to Virginia.

                Jana parked in the underground parking deck.  They took the elevators for the special guests and employees like Bella.  They stood a step behind Bella as she approached the desk.  Bella sat the head and heart on the desk.  The tall, lean, blond, and very handsome man behind the desk nodded in approval.

                “Here you are,” Bella said.

                “Thank you so much. I knew I could count on this team to complete the job,” Carlisle grinned.

                “That’s what we do.  We succeed where others fail.  I don’t understand why others couldn’t do it.”

                “The dogs.  They couldn’t make it pass the dogs.  The dogs would keep them at bay while the guards fired on them.”

                “Ah so that’s why you sent us,” Jana gave a knowing smile.

                “Because we have the beast master,” Bella laughed.

                “You should’ve sent us first,” Kelley shook her head.

                “I would have if you had been on this side of the country.  You were out in LA still.  I’ll wire the money within the hour to your accounts.”

                “Thank you Mr. Cullen.”

                They left the office and headed to the complex so Bella could shower and be ready for her date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for sharing your time with me. I am posting after I reread over each chapter. It will all be up within the week. This was written back in 2010 so there are things that may not be current.


	5. Date Night

Edward checked his reflection one last time.  He felt good about his appearance but he was still nervous.  He had on a pair of dark blue distressed jeans, black blazer, and an ivory button down. It had taken him half an hour but he had managed to get his unruly hair under control.  Jacob had approved of his image as well before he had left for work.  He trusted Jacob’s opinion because he was a metro-sexual and all his gay friends were unavailable to aid him that night.  Edward grabbed his wallet and headed to the restaurant.  He stopped by the florist and bought her a rose.  He waited outside the restaurant.

Edward’s breath caught when he saw her.  Bella wore a navy two piece skirt set that fit her form perfectly.  He assumed she had a tailor because all of her clothes seemed to be made for her body.  The mermaid cut of the skirt accented her shape perfectly and didn’t reveal too much leg.  The sleeves fell slightly off her shoulder leaving her neck looking marvelous.  Edward wasn’t sure why but he found that beautiful and sexy.  Her hair was pulled up into a stylish messy bun.

“Hey there sparrow,” Bella greeted him.

“H-hi.  This is for you,” Edward handed her the rose.

                “Ooh a yellow rose its perfect,” Bella hooked arms with him and they went in.

                They were seated and ordered drinks.  Edward looked over the menu and noticed that she never even opened the menu.  He thought that he had picked a bad restaurant since she seemed to already know what she wanted.  The waitress returned and took their order.  She had ordered soup.  He thought that odd but said nothing.

                “So sparrow.  Since you're in a band is all the music you listen to the same?”

                “No. I like a bit of everything.  Right now I’m very into nerd core hip hop and punk.”

                “Oh wow very eclectic.”

                “What about you?”

                “I’m into a little bit of everything.  Mostly rock and pop.”

                “What was the last concert that you went to?”

                “Hm…the last one was AFI.  Yeah because Nine Inch Nails was before that.”

                “Wow I am slightly impressed.  Did you mosh?”

                “Of course one of the only female moshers out there,” Bella said very proud.

                “That’s so awesome.”

                “What was your last concert?”

                “Sage Francis and Optimus Rhyme.  Same night but two different shows.”

                “Cool.  I love music so I’m glad that you have a diverse taste as well.”

                “I’ve always been into music.  It’s been a big part of my life.”

                “Me too.  There’s always something there to fit your mood and make you feel understood.”

                A moment passed between them as if they were the only people that existed.  It was broken when the waitress brought their food.  They ate in silence a few minutes.  Bella spooned around the vegetables and consumed just the broth.  Edward tried not to slurp at his pasta as he ate.

                “What’s your favorite movie?” Edward asked to break the silence.

                “My all time favorite movie would have to be ‘Interview with a Vampire’.  I simply love that movie.”

                “I do love vampire movies.  I’d have to say my all time favorite movie is ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’.”

                “Oh goodness! I love that movie.”

                “Guillermo Del Toro is the man when it comes to directing.  I love all his work.”

                “I know!  You know he’s partnering with Peter Jackson doing the ‘Hobbit’.”

                “Seriously?!” he exclaimed.

                “Yeah.  It’s do out in a few years.  It’s going to be wonderful.  If they do a video game he’s supposed to direct that as well.”

                “O-M-G! That will be awesome.”

                “Did you just say omg?” she laughed.

                “Sorry habit.  You play video games too?”

                “Oh yeah.  I just finished Arkham for the third time.  100% this time.  I’m still playing Oblivion and Fable II.”

                “Wow.  I love RPG’s too.  It’s so easy to get lost in them.  I think I logged like 60 hours in Fable that had nothing to do with the story line.”

                “Exactly.  I logged about 15 hours before I closed the second gate in Oblivion.  It’s so hard now I’ve set it aside until I have the patience.”

                “Did you play Mirrors Edge?”

                “Of course.  I finished it in about three days.  Once I got the climbing and wall run down it was a piece of cake.  That was good once I got to Assassin’s Creed II.  I had to use the same skill.”

                “I thought I was the only one that felt that way.  Those damn tombs!  I beat the game without doing the last two because I got pissed.  I’ve gone back now and am trying to get the last two beat.”

                “Oh yeah.  I broke two controllers because I got so frustrated with those damn tombs and decoding the glyph puzzles.”

                They talked video games and comics until dessert.  They had a quiet time during the end of the meal.  They agreed that Bella would head back to his place.  Edward raced home and made sure it was clean and smelled fresh.  He hung his blazer and hid his ps3 and wii so that she wouldn’t have questions about his money situation.  He double checked everything and she knocked on the door.

                “Almost forgot which was yours.  I think my apartment is right across from yours,” Bella walked pass him into his apartment.

                “Yeah it might be,” he shut the door behind her.

                “Smells good.  Some one cooking?” Bella handed him her jacket.

                “No. Jacob likes those scented candles,” he said quickly.

                Edward couldn’t help but look at her for a moment.  Bella had changed into comfortable clothes.  She had on gray sweats with pink stripes and a pink girl cut tee shirt.  Bella took off her sandals and padded over to the couch in her socks.  He sighed happily and hung her coat up.

                “Can I get you something to drink?”

                “Anything without carbonation,” she looked through his cd collection.

                “Okay,” he pulled the glasses and poured tea into each.

                “I thought I was the only one who still bought cds.  This is cool.”

                “Some artists I like having a hard copy even though I’ll rip it to my iPod,” he sat there drinks down.

                “Same here.  Oh goodness you have Adam Lambert!” she spun around to face him gleefully.

                “Yeah,” he blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

                “It’s ok I love Glambert!  He’s one of my favorites.  His stage show is ridiculous.”

                “Okay,” he perked up.

                “Oh sparrow never be ashamed of your music.  I mean, I still rock out to Hanson when I’m alone in my place or with my friends,” Bella sat on the couch in front the television.

                “I’ll keep that in mind.  So what do you want to play first?” he sat down next to her.

                “Let’s finish Assassin’s Creed.  It’ll only take a few minutes.  I can walk you through it.”

                “Okay,” he pulled out his cd case of Xbox games.

                An hour later…

                “If you're not going to do it like I said you’ll keep failing!” Bella shouted at him and threw her hands in the air.

                “Well if you stop waiting ‘til the last minute to tell me what to do I’d do it correct the first time,” Edward grumbled back.

                “Gimme the damn controller,” she snatched it from him.

                “Fine,” he sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.

                Edward watched the screen as she played through the assassin tombs.  Bella leapt, wall crawled and swung at all the right times.  She finished it in the matter of minutes.  It had taken her seven minutes to do something that he couldn’t do in an hour.  She raced up the building and to the next tomb.  Bella finished and went back to the villa.

                “There.  Now go receive your reward, empty the chest and I collected ten feathers so put those in the box,” she handed him the controller.

                He took the controller and stared at her as she sipped her tea.

                “I think I’m in love,” Edward mumbled.

                “Excuse me?” Bella turned to him.

                “I was just saying thank you,” he blushed for what felt like the 100th time.

                “Hm okay,” she eyed him suspiciously.

                Edward finished just like she said then turned off the console.  He stretched and stood up.  He pulled her jacket and his.  Edward walked her to her door.  She unlocked her door and turned to him.

                “I had a really great time,” Bella smiled.

                “Me too.  I’ll see you around.”

                “Yup.”

                Edward turned to walk away.  Bella smiled and shook her head and grabbed his arm.  He turned and she stood on her tip toes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

                “You can call me Bella now my little sparrow,” she went into her apartment.

                Edward felt the smile spread across his face as he walked back to his place.


	6. Answers

                Bella stood by and listened to Kelley as she recapped her date with Wade.  Wade had gone by the apartment and left a note with his number for Kelley.  Bella had been ecstatic to relay his number to Kelley.  They had been on three dates and Bella already saw the edges of love in Kelley’s smile.  She was happy for her friend but jealous in the same breath because Edward hadn’t asked her out again.  She had stopped by his band practice and Legend but they hadn’t formally been out again.

                “Uh oh she’s thinking about the boy,” Jana said with a smile.

                “I can’t help it.  Hearing how happy Kelley is pisses me off he hasn’t asked me out again.  I know I sound like I’m twelve but I can’t help it.”

                “Wade says he’s nervous.  Maybe you should ask him out,” Kelley said as she texted.

                “I can’t do that.”

                “Why?”

                “Because I was forward with him up front.  I think it’s time for him to step it up.”

                “Cowboy up and ask the boy out,” Jana said teasingly.

                “I can’t.”

                “Yes hold on a minute,” Kelley handed her cell phone to Bella with a smile.

                “I didn’t hear your phone ring,” Jana whispered.

                “You sure didn’t.”

                “Hello?”

                “Hey Bella.  Kelley said you had something to ask me,” Edward’s voice sounded on the other end.

                “Uh,” she shot Kelley a dirty look, “I’ve got these tickets to a Meshuggah concert this weekend and wanted to know if you wanted to come.”

                “Sure that sounds awesome.”

                “Cool.  We could do dinner before and then head to the show.  We could meet at my place like six.”

                “That sounds great.  Well I have to run see ya this weekend.”

                Bella slid the phone shut and tossed it at Kelley.

                “I should be mad at you but I can’t be,” Bella said with a fake grimace.

                “I know you love me.  Well you have a date now.  It’s time to go now you don’t want to be late meeting Madilyn.”

                “Shit I didn’t realize it was that late,” she went to the bathroom and put in her contacts.

                “You want a ride?” Jana asked as she slipped on her coat.

                “Nope.  Thanks.  See you guys tomorrow.”

               

                Edward drove home from work that evening and his phone rang.  He didn’t recognize the number.  He hit the answer button on his Bluetooth and he heard Bella’s voice in the back ground. Then another female voice hit the line.

                “Hey this is Kelley Bella’s friend.  Wade gave me your number.  Bella has something she wants to ask you,” she whispered and then Bella was on the phone.

                Edward thought it odd but shrugged it off.  He was delighted that Bella asked him out.  He hung up with her quickly before he giggled.  He coughed embarrassed at his own behavior.  He had been trying to work up the nerve to ask her out and had failed.  They hung out occasionally and he had enjoyed the time but he was glad that she had asked him out.

                Edward stopped at the mall on his way home.  He wanted to buy a new outfit for his date.  After several attempts and just as many fails he stopped in Urban Outfitters.  Edward left with a new pair of Diesel Zatiny 88z jeans, a tee shirt that read ‘never trust a hipster’ and a Koto sweater jacket.   He went home and hung his new clothes in his walk in closet.  The front door slammed and he heard Jacob cussing and swearing.

                “Hey dude what’s up?” Edward walked into the living room.

                “I am such a fucking loser,” Jacob flopped down on the couch and threw his arms over his eyes with his head back.

                “What happened?” he sat in the chair across from him.

                “That girl.  Jana your girl’s friend.”

                “What did you do?”

                “What didn’t I do is more like it.  I couldn’t form a sentence.  She was in the parking lot with Wade’s girlfriend and I went to talk to her.  I just blubbered everything.  I am such a dork.  I just ran away like a fucking idiot.”

                “Are you serious?” he tried hold back his laughter.

                “Yes,” Jacob groaned disappointed in his self.

                “Not you Mr. Smooth and lady’s man.  Why are you so…child like around her?”

                “I have no clue.”

                “You should take a breath and a shot then collect yourself.”

                There was a knock at the door then the same person rang the door bell.  Edward went to the door and opened it.  He smiled and nodded.

                “Jake it’s for you,” he walked back to the living room.

                “Who is it?”

                “Go see.”

                Jacob got up with a deep sigh and went to the door.  He opened the door and his mouth fell open.  Jana smiled at him and twisted her hand in his shirt.

                “You have to stop being so shy and just do things,” she said and pulled him to her.

                Jana kissed him sweetly on the lips then released him.  She slipped her business card in his pocket and left.  Jacob stood at the door with his mouth agape.

                “Well it looks like she likes you too,” Edward said with a laugh.

                “Yes,” he closed the door and began to jump up and down.

                “Someone is giddy as a school girl.”

                “Should I call her now?”

                “Two days then call her you don’t want to seem desperate.”

                “But I am desperate,” Jacob said as he stared at her business card.

                “We know that but she doesn’t need to know that.”

                “Hey the emblem here kind of looks like the one for your dad’s company,” he handed the card to Edward.

                “It kind of does,” he said as he looked at the seven sided star with a peace sign in the center, “yup just replace the peace sign with the atom sign and it would be it.”

                “She’s into me,” he smiled.

                “Bella and I have a date this weekend.  You should come as well.  We could double date.”

                “That would be an awesome idea.  That way I’m not all alone and you can help me keep conversation.”

                “Sounds like a plan.”

                Edward made a mental note to call Bella and let her know the plans had been edited.

 

                Bella parked her Confederate Limited-Edition Fighter motorcycle and pulled the small box from her satchel.  She walked up to the small colonial inspired house and took her helmet off.  Bella flipped her hair to make sure it wasn’t flat and rang the door bell.  The door opened and she tried not to feel the fear that bubbled in her stomach.

                “Ms. Gioia she has been waiting for you.  They’re in the den.”

                “Thank you so much Paul.”

                Bella made her way into the den with all the guests.  She placed her helmet on the table by the entry way.  Madilyn turned around and ran to her as her sandy blonde curls bounced around her shoulders.

                “I thought I heard a bike,” her brown eyes danced with happiness.

                “Sorry that I couldn’t make it to graduation,” she hugged her.

                “But you still made it here and that’s what matters.”

                “Here you are.  Congratulations,” Bella handed her the small box with the pink ribbon on it.

                “Oh my gosh,” Madilyn pulled out the diamond tennis bracelet with the pink diamond charm, “this is beautiful.  Thank you so much.”

                “It was your mothers.  I thought that you should have it.”

                “’To Isabella with love’,” she read the inscription, “oh auntie Gioia.  Thank you so much.”

                “Your grandfather gave it to her when she graduated from college.  I figured we might as well start a tradition.”

                “This means a lot to me,” she hugged her again.

                Bella tried not to cry.  She felt it at the back of her throat.  Madilyn pulled her all the way into the room where the others were gathered.

                “Everyone you remember my auntie Gioia, my mom’s twin,” Madilyn said as she put an arm around her shoulders.

                Bella made it through the party and made promises to visit more often.  It had been twenty-two years and it hadn’t gotten any easier seeing her daughter live without her.  She rode her bike to Richmond to meet with Mr. Cullen for her next assignment.  Mr. Cullen, she thought.  If it hadn’t been for Mr. Cullen she wouldn’t have to lie about who she was to her daughter and wear makeup to hide her appearance and lack of aging.  She wouldn’t have had to disappear after she had given birth to show up years later as her mother’s separated at birth twin.  The anger quickly dissipated as she drove up the highway.  If it hadn’t been for Mr. Cullen she would be dead.  He had saved her life but in the same moment killed her spirit. 

Carlisle’s practice in genetic augmentation was revolutionary and Bella had been one of his most successful experiments.  Bella had moved from hating him a decade ago but sometimes it stung.  The virus she had gotten would have killed her and Madilyn but Jana had heard of Carlisle’s research and practices.  Jana had taken Bella there and he had saved both their lives.  She was forever in debt to him.  Bella had walked away healthy with a few extraordinary skills and abilities.

Bella had also lost things that had been a big part of her mundane life.  She would never feel the warmth of the sun on her fair skin, never be able to hide her emotions or have the comfort of solid food.  She thought about the contacts she had to wear so her eyes would go unnoticed when they shifted with her emotions.  All was a small price to pay for living and breathing.  She pulled her bike to a stop downtown at his secondary head quarters.

“So how was the party?” Kelley asked as they rode the elevator up.

“It was good.  All of my family was there.  Her father was there and he was nice to me as well.  Then a lot of her friends.  No boyfriend right now I haven’t had to deal with that yet.  I think her friend Kal is into her but he hasn’t said anything to her.  I liked him so maybe he’ll grow a pair and let her know that he likes her more than a friend.”

“Good.  You feel normal.  Usually you have that I have to kill something vibe but you're calm right now.”

“I’m trying to be sane.  Where’s Jana?”

“Don’t know.  She texted to say she would be late.”

“Okay.”

They went to Carlisle’s office and was about to open the door when Jana exited the stairs in a run.  She caught her breath and they entered the office together.

“Hello ladies.  I have to catch a plane to Japan so this is going to be quick.  I’ve got an escaped hybrid.  He was last seen in the Shenandoah area.  He is very dangerous.  Please be careful,” Carlisle handed Bella the folder.

“How long has he been out?”

“Three days.  We would rather not have him killed.”

“Okay.  We’re on it.  Have a safe flight.”

They went to the lounge and went over the file.  It was a wolf and human hybrid.  The scientists that worked for Cullen Industries had a sick sense of humor.  Since they had basically made vampires with their fiddling in DNA they had wanted to make his wolf counter part.  They had failed more times with the wolf.  Bella was grateful for their research but also wished they would work harder of curing her weaknesses so she could enjoy more of a normal life. 

“So we’re double dating?” Jana asked.

“What?” she looked up from the pictures.

“Jacob just texted me saying we are going to the Meshuggah concert together.  He told me not to say anything because he wasn’t supposed to call me for two days,” she chuckled.

“Damn I have to come up with four tickets.  That bites.  I’ll be able to do it.  Well let’s head to the mountains.  I’d like to get this thing done so it doesn’t mess with our plans for the weekend.”

“We could make it a triple date,” Kelley said.

“Ooh good idea,” Bella smiled. 

“You going to tell us where you were?” Kelley asked.

“I had to visit my sister.  She knew I was coming to Richmond and made me swear to stop by.  You know how she likes to gab.  Bells how’d Madi like the bracelet?”

“She loved it.  It looks so good on her.”

“I told you.  How was your mom?”

“Happy to see me.  She was glad to see me well and still feeling odd about the not aging thing.  She says it makes her feel old.”

“I bet it does.  How awesome is it to be stuck at 25 though?  I wish they had the serum to stop our aging instead of just slowing it.  I don’t like knowing I look older than you and you're older than me,” Kelley said with a smile.

“I second that.”

“Oh whatever let’s get a move on so we can get this bastard.”

They went to the garage and took Jana’s explorer and headed to the valley to try and capture the hybrid.

 


	7. Questions Arise

                Bella stood by and listened to Kelley as she recapped her date with Wade.  Wade had gone by the apartment and left a note with his number for Kelley.  Bella had been ecstatic to relay his number to Kelley.  They had been on three dates and Bella already saw the edges of love in Kelley’s smile.  She was happy for her friend but jealous in the same breath because Edward hadn’t asked her out again.  She had stopped by his band practice and Legend but they hadn’t formally been out again.

                “Uh oh she’s thinking about the boy,” Jana said with a smile.

                “I can’t help it.  Hearing how happy Kelley is pisses me off he hasn’t asked me out again.  I know I sound like I’m twelve but I can’t help it.”

                “Wade says he’s nervous.  Maybe you should ask him out,” Kelley said as she texted.

                “I can’t do that.”

                “Why?”

                “Because I was forward with him up front.  I think it’s time for him to step it up.”

                “Cowboy up and ask the boy out,” Jana said teasingly.

                “I can’t.”

                “Yes hold on a minute,” Kelley handed her cell phone to Bella with a smile.

                “I didn’t hear your phone ring,” Jana whispered.

                “You sure didn’t.”

                “Hello?”

                “Hey Bella.  Kelley said you had something to ask me,” Edward’s voice sounded on the other end.

                “Uh,” she shot Kelley a dirty look, “I’ve got these tickets to a Meshuggah concert this weekend and wanted to know if you wanted to come.”

                “Sure that sounds awesome.”

                “Cool.  We could do dinner before and then head to the show.  We could meet at my place like six.”

                “That sounds great.  Well I have to run see ya this weekend.”

                Bella slid the phone shut and tossed it at Kelley.

                “I should be mad at you but I can’t be,” Bella said with a fake grimace.

                “I know you love me.  Well you have a date now.  It’s time to go now you don’t want to be late meeting Madilyn.”

                “Shit I didn’t realize it was that late,” she went to the bathroom and put in her contacts.

                “You want a ride?” Jana asked as she slipped on her coat.

                “Nope.  Thanks.  See you guys tomorrow.”

               

                Edward drove home from work that evening and his phone rang.  He didn’t recognize the number.  He hit the answer button on his Bluetooth and he heard Bella’s voice in the back ground. Then another female voice hit the line.

                “Hey this is Kelley Bella’s friend.  Wade gave me your number.  Bella has something she wants to ask you,” she whispered and then Bella was on the phone.

                Edward thought it odd but shrugged it off.  He was delighted that Bella asked him out.  He hung up with her quickly before he giggled.  He coughed embarrassed at his own behavior.  He had been trying to work up the nerve to ask her out and had failed.  They hung out occasionally and he had enjoyed the time but he was glad that she had asked him out.

                Edward stopped at the mall on his way home.  He wanted to buy a new outfit for his date.  After several attempts and just as many fails he stopped in Urban Outfitters.  Edward left with a new pair of Diesel Zatiny 88z jeans, a tee shirt that read ‘never trust a hipster’ and a Koto sweater jacket.   He went home and hung his new clothes in his walk in closet.  The front door slammed and he heard Jacob cussing and swearing.

                “Hey dude what’s up?” Edward walked into the living room.

                “I am such a fucking loser,” Jacob flopped down on the couch and threw his arms over his eyes with his head back.

                “What happened?” he sat in the chair across from him.

                “That girl.  Jana your girl’s friend.”

                “What did you do?”

                “What didn’t I do is more like it.  I couldn’t form a sentence.  She was in the parking lot with Wade’s girlfriend and I went to talk to her.  I just blubbered everything.  I am such a dork.  I just ran away like a fucking idiot.”

                “Are you serious?” he tried hold back his laughter.

                “Yes,” Jacob groaned disappointed in his self.

                “Not you Mr. Smooth and lady’s man.  Why are you so…child like around her?”

                “I have no clue.”

                “You should take a breath and a shot then collect yourself.”

                There was a knock at the door then the same person rang the door bell.  Edward went to the door and opened it.  He smiled and nodded.

                “Jake it’s for you,” he walked back to the living room.

                “Who is it?”

                “Go see.”

                Jacob got up with a deep sigh and went to the door.  He opened the door and his mouth fell open.  Jana smiled at him and twisted her hand in his shirt.

                “You have to stop being so shy and just do things,” she said and pulled him to her.

                Jana kissed him sweetly on the lips then released him.  She slipped her business card in his pocket and left.  Jacob stood at the door with his mouth agape.

                “Well it looks like she likes you too,” Edward said with a laugh.

                “Yes,” he closed the door and began to jump up and down.

                “Someone is giddy as a school girl.”

                “Should I call her now?”

                “Two days then call her you don’t want to seem desperate.”

                “But I am desperate,” Jacob said as he stared at her business card.

                “We know that but she doesn’t need to know that.”

                “Hey the emblem here kind of looks like the one for your dad’s company,” he handed the card to Edward.

                “It kind of does,” he said as he looked at the seven sided star with a peace sign in the center, “yup just replace the peace sign with the atom sign and it would be it.”

                “She’s into me,” he smiled.

                “Bella and I have a date this weekend.  You should come as well.  We could double date.”

                “That would be an awesome idea.  That way I’m not all alone and you can help me keep conversation.”

                “Sounds like a plan.”

                Edward made a mental note to call Bella and let her know the plans had been edited.

 

                Bella parked her Confederate Limited-Edition Fighter motorcycle and pulled the small box from her satchel.  She walked up to the small colonial inspired house and took her helmet off.  Bella flipped her hair to make sure it wasn’t flat and rang the door bell.  The door opened and she tried not to feel the fear that bubbled in her stomach.

                “Ms. Gioia she has been waiting for you.  They’re in the den.”

                “Thank you so much Paul.”

                Bella made her way into the den with all the guests.  She placed her helmet on the table by the entry way.  Madilyn turned around and ran to her as her sandy blonde curls bounced around her shoulders.

                “I thought I heard a bike,” her brown eyes danced with happiness.

                “Sorry that I couldn’t make it to graduation,” she hugged her.

                “But you still made it here and that’s what matters.”

                “Here you are.  Congratulations,” Bella handed her the small box with the pink ribbon on it.

                “Oh my gosh,” Madilyn pulled out the diamond tennis bracelet with the pink diamond charm, “this is beautiful.  Thank you so much.”

                “It was your mothers.  I thought that you should have it.”

                “’To Isabella with love’,” she read the inscription, “oh auntie Gioia.  Thank you so much.”

                “Your grandfather gave it to her when she graduated from college.  I figured we might as well start a tradition.”

                “This means a lot to me,” she hugged her again.

                Bella tried not to cry.  She felt it at the back of her throat.  Madilyn pulled her all the way into the room where the others were gathered.

                “Everyone you remember my auntie Gioia, my mom’s twin,” Madilyn said as she put an arm around her shoulders.

                Bella made it through the party and made promises to visit more often.  It had been twenty-two years and it hadn’t gotten any easier seeing her daughter live without her.  She rode her bike to Richmond to meet with Mr. Cullen for her next assignment.  Mr. Cullen, she thought.  If it hadn’t been for Mr. Cullen she wouldn’t have to lie about who she was to her daughter and wear makeup to hide her appearance and lack of aging.  She wouldn’t have had to disappear after she had given birth to show up years later as her mother’s separated at birth twin.  The anger quickly dissipated as she drove up the highway.  If it hadn’t been for Mr. Cullen she would be dead.  He had saved her life but in the same moment killed her spirit. 

Carlisle’s practice in genetic augmentation was revolutionary and Bella had been one of his most successful experiments.  Bella had moved from hating him a decade ago but sometimes it stung.  The virus she had gotten would have killed her and Madilyn but Jana had heard of Carlisle’s research and practices.  Jana had taken Bella there and he had saved both their lives.  She was forever in debt to him.  Bella had walked away healthy with a few extraordinary skills and abilities.

Bella had also lost things that had been a big part of her mundane life.  She would never feel the warmth of the sun on her fair skin, never be able to hide her emotions or have the comfort of solid food.  She thought about the contacts she had to wear so her eyes would go unnoticed when they shifted with her emotions.  All was a small price to pay for living and breathing.  She pulled her bike to a stop downtown at his secondary head quarters.

“So how was the party?” Kelley asked as they rode the elevator up.

“It was good.  All of my family was there.  Her father was there and he was nice to me as well.  Then a lot of her friends.  No boyfriend right now I haven’t had to deal with that yet.  I think her friend Kal is into her but he hasn’t said anything to her.  I liked him so maybe he’ll grow a pair and let her know that he likes her more than a friend.”

“Good.  You feel normal.  Usually you have that I have to kill something vibe but you're calm right now.”

“I’m trying to be sane.  Where’s Jana?”

“Don’t know.  She texted to say she would be late.”

“Okay.”

They went to Carlisle’s office and was about to open the door when Jana exited the stairs in a run.  She caught her breath and they entered the office together.

“Hello ladies.  I have to catch a plane to Japan so this is going to be quick.  I’ve got an escaped hybrid.  He was last seen in the Shenandoah area.  He is very dangerous.  Please be careful,” Carlisle handed Bella the folder.

“How long has he been out?”

“Three days.  We would rather not have him killed.”

“Okay.  We’re on it.  Have a safe flight.”

They went to the lounge and went over the file.  It was a wolf and human hybrid.  The scientists that worked for Cullen Industries had a sick sense of humor.  Since they had basically made vampires with their fiddling in DNA they had wanted to make his wolf counter part.  They had failed more times with the wolf.  Bella was grateful for their research but also wished they would work harder of curing her weaknesses so she could enjoy more of a normal life. 

“So we’re double dating?” Jana asked.

“What?” she looked up from the pictures.

“Jacob just texted me saying we are going to the Meshuggah concert together.  He told me not to say anything because he wasn’t supposed to call me for two days,” she chuckled.

“Damn I have to come up with four tickets.  That bites.  I’ll be able to do it.  Well let’s head to the mountains.  I’d like to get this thing done so it doesn’t mess with our plans for the weekend.”

“We could make it a triple date,” Kelley said.

“Ooh good idea,” Bella smiled. 

“You going to tell us where you were?” Kelley asked.

“I had to visit my sister.  She knew I was coming to Richmond and made me swear to stop by.  You know how she likes to gab.  Bells how’d Madi like the bracelet?”

“She loved it.  It looks so good on her.”

“I told you.  How was your mom?”

“Happy to see me.  She was glad to see me well and still feeling odd about the not aging thing.  She says it makes her feel old.”

“I bet it does.  How awesome is it to be stuck at 25 though?  I wish they had the serum to stop our aging instead of just slowing it.  I don’t like knowing I look older than you and you're older than me,” Kelley said with a smile.

“I second that.”

“Oh whatever let’s get a move on so we can get this bastard.”

They went to the garage and took Jana’s explorer and headed to the valley to try and capture the hybrid.

 


	8. Conrontation

                “Edward?  What are you doing?” Emmett asked as he went to him.

                “There was someone there.  They just came from dad’s office,” he pointed up where the rope dangled from the side of the building.

                “Do you think that they were involved?” Jasper followed Edward to the parking lot.

                “I don’t know but they left us a way to enter the building.”

                “Really you want to climb the side of this building?”

                “Why not? We won’t risk being caught on the cameras,” Edward said as he tugged on the rope.

                “I might be ex-military but this is shit,” Emmett groaned.

                “Well if we don’t and they don’t let us in the office what are we going to do then?”

                “I guess you're right.”

                Edward went to lift himself on the rope and it snapped.  He wouldn’t realize that someone in the inside had cut it.  The clean up crew had gotten in place to make sure that anything that was not so legal was destroyed before the police entered the building.  Edward looked back up to the window.

                “Shit well that is out of the question.”

                “Mr. Cullen,” a voice called from around the building.

                “Yes,” they all responded.

                “We would like to talk to you,” an officer called to them.

                They walked back around the building and joined the policeman in the lobby.  Jasper sat down while Emmett paced and Edward stood with his arms crossed over his chest. He answered the questions that the police had.  His father had no enemies that he knew of and the fact that the man was wealthy was not a secret.  The police had no answers and there hadn’t been a ransom call to their mother or any of the children.  Edward finished with them as quickly as possible.  He promised his brothers he would be headed to his mother’s side but he had one stop he wanted to make before then. 

                Edward pulled onto the highway and headed to Kinstone.  He hoped that he would find answers as he had a thousand questions that ran through his head.  He took his time and picked up his phone.  He called Bella’s phone and no one answered.  He had expected as much and that was why he was headed to her apartment.  He arrived at the complex and noticed her bike was there but her car was gone.  He was grateful for numbered parking spots.  He went up to her apartment and knocked on the door and there was no answer.  As he headed back to his car Jacob had pulled in.

                “Hey man what’s up?”

                “There’s a situation with my family.  I don’t know how serious it is yet.  I don’t know when I’ll be home.  If by any chance you run into Bella tell her to give me a call it’s very important.”

                “Sure man,” he cast a worried look to his friend as he sped off.

 

                Bella had driven them to their safe house away from the city.  She looked at the email again.  It had been sent to his email from his email.  There was no way to trace it back.  She moved away from the computer and replayed the voice mail over.

                “The only sounds I could pick up was the fact they’re in a moving vehicle and he was gagged because he was mumbling in the background,” Jana said as she played the audio they had of the background noises in the voicemail, “not a single animal or other people.  No trains passing or anything that would give us a clue.”

                “How come they make this shit seem so easy on TV? Like there’s always some defining noise and we would track it.  I hate television,” Kelley said as she went through the video footage they had hacked into from the offices.

                “Anything yet?” Bella asked as she looked over her shoulder.

                “Nothing.  All the same staff as always.  No one unfamiliar and no one not employed.  The only females that entered the office were us.  Even the video from his secret footage is blank.  Hold on,” she paused the video and rewound it.

                “What is it?” Jana joined them.

                “Someone entered his office.  He looked up at them then he stood. He speaks with who ever for a few minutes.   After that the camera goes blank.”

                “They didn’t enter from the hall way so where did they come from?” Jana asked as they replayed the footage several times.

                “His emergency exit.  There isn’t supposed to be a way to enter through there though.  It supposed to be set for only exiting,” Bella said once she realized the direction he looked to.

                “Go back and zoom in on his hand,” Jana pointed to the screen, “what’s he doing?”

                “Shit he’s letting us know who took him,” Bella exclaimed as she grabbed a pen and paper, “I don’t know Morse code but that’s what he’s doing.  I’ll write down all the longs and shorts.”

                “I’ve got an app for that,” Jana pulled her phone out with a giggle, “screw you iphone.  My application is about to save our boss’s life.”

                “Here that’s everything he tapped,” Bella handed her the paper, “circles are the shorts and lines are longs.”

                “Okay it’ll take me a minute but I’ll get it,” she sat her phone on the table next to Bella’s sheet.

                A few minutes passed and Jana had the thoughts that Carlisle had wanted to pass on.  She looked at it and then showed it to Kelley and Bella.

                “I don’t get it,” Bella said.

                “I do,” Kelley said as she reread it, “he was familiar with who took him but had no clue who she was.  So he described her.  She’s a tall red head who had a gun drawn on his.  She wasn’t alone.  He remembered her from the eastern shore conference.  He couldn’t put it all in words because that would have taken too long.”

                “Good thing you're good at crossword puzzles because I would’ve been here forever,” Jana said with a laugh, “so all we need to do is get pictures from the conference, and we’ll have our villain.”

                “Sounds good.  Who had the photos?”

                “The archivist will.  Tanya will have them.  She should still be available.”

                “Or we could just hack her computer from here.”

                “Nope.  Laurent created that code.  There is no way we can break it from here.”

                “Okay fine.  We have an hour before mystery chick calls.  Do you really think Tanya will be happy that we disturb her this time of night?”

                “Only one way to find out,” Bella picked up her phone and dialed her number, “this is Bella.  I need your assistance.  Carlisle has been kidnapped.  I don’t need you to panic.  I need all the photos that you have from the conference a few months ago.  You can send them to my email.  Tanya just in case you don’t get it, you cannot tell anyone about this.”

                “Well that is one way to do it.”

                “She’ll have them over to me soon.”

                “Where do you think she’s keeping him?”

                “I don’t know but I’m not sure it’s close.  We have 48 hours which means he could be outside of the state.  I’ve got the tracking set up on the phone.  It isn’t the best since we can’t use the offices technology but it’ll track them with in 140 kilometers,” Jana said.

                “Let’s hope we can figure it out and keep recording everything.  This time we might be able to catch a sound.”

                “Okay I’ve got the email. There’s a lot of frigging pictures here.  Do you think we could load it to the facial recognition software and be able to filter it?”

                “Yup,” Jana sat back down at the other computer, “shoot it over to my email and I’ll load it up.”

                “Some of the pictures are black and white so you want to filter with females.  Then we can filter it to Carlisle and that should narrow it down,” Kelley said.

                Jana typed a few things into the computer then the pictures began to shuffle and move on the screen as it did all the work.  Once it had it narrowed down to all the women she narrowed it down to all the women who interacted with Carlisle.

                “Okay so we have 169 pictures to go through,” she clicked through all the pictures.

                “Oh god this is taking forever,” Bella sat down and hung her head.

                “Well at least we know it’s one of these fifteen women.  I’ll pull all their records,” Kelley said as she typed away on the other computer.

                The prepaid phone rang and they all looked at each other.  Then they glanced at the clock.  It was midnight.

 

                Edward held his mother as the rest of his family rested.  He looked up at the clock as it struck midnight.  He was worried about his father and his mother.  There still had not been a ransom call and the news had taken the story and run with it.  It was now public news that Carlisle Cullen was missing.   None of the stations came out and said he was kidnapped but there were a lot of speculations.  With his office window broken a few claimed suicide that the family covered up.  He hated that his mother sat and watched even against his better judgment.  There were images of the boys at the site and then of the house as reporters stood out front and waited for them to emerge.  They had tried to question Emmett as he had gone to get dinner for them.  That had been a bad idea and he was pretty sure the reporter would need to have his ribs wrapped.  Emmett had only softly body checked him but he wasn’t a small guy by any means.

                Edward hummed as his mom drifted to sleep.  He had had Alice slip sleeping medicine into her tea.  He knew that she would have otherwise kept herself awake.  He eased her down onto the sofa and pulled a blanket over her.  He walked to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.  He had slept first so as to be the one who took the night shift but he felt he might not make it.  Rosalie entered and poured herself a cup as well.  Edward always felt an ach when he watched Rosalie.  She was the most beautiful person he knew and it hurt sometimes.  Even after being a mother to two she was still breathtakingly gorgeous.  She would never act as such because she had long ago matured passed the point of where it mattered.  He hugged her to him then they sat at the table.

                “Mom is sleep,” he said softly.

                “Good.  Any calls?”

                “Not a one.  The police are still set up outside just in case.”

                “Do you think we’ll get a call?”

                “Honestly Rose I have no idea.  Most times they would have called in by now.”

                “Do you think he’s dead?”

                “No.  We would know.  I just know that if anything happened we would feel it.”

                “Who could have done something like this?  I mean, he is such a hero to the community and always give back.  What type of monster would just steal him?” tears trailed down her cheeks.

                “I don’t know.  I really don’t because if I did I would have killed them.”

                “Don’t speak like that.  You are not capable of something so violent.”

                “Rose you married into a family of loyal people.  If it would protect any of you I would kill for you.  I know that sounds harsh but I would,” he laid his hand over her hand.

                “I believe you.”

                They sat at the table in silence.  There wasn’t much else to be said.  They just had to wait and see what happened.

 

                Bella picked up the phone.  She cleared her throat before she spoke.

                “Ah Isabella.  How are you dear?”

                “Pissed if you must know.”

                “Hm that sounds so sad.  Now you are working to get my money and your design?”

                “Yes.  It’s going to take time.  Not all of the people who assisted in my healing are in the United States.  I also know you know how hard it is to get five million dollars on such a short notice,” she paced back and forth.

                “Well I am sure that you’ll work hard won’t you?  You don’t want Carlisle here to expire do you?  Of course you don’t.”

                “Let me speak to him to know he’s still alive.”

                “No.”

                “How do you expect me to trust you and I have no idea who you are?”

                “Because you know you have to. He’s got a family to get home to, a very large family with grandchildren and everything.  You wouldn’t want for his family to lose him would you?”

                “No I wouldn’t, but I need proof of life.”

                “Okay I guess a quick chat won’t hurt anyone,” there was shuffling.

                “Isabella?”

                “Carlisle, are you okay?”

                “Yes I am.  Do not negotiate with this woman.  She isn’t going to let me live.  My family knows that something like this would happen.  They have everything in a warehouse.  They know what to do.”

                “Sorry sir but I have no choice but to cooperate.”

                “Isabella no--”

                “Sorry but Carlisle has no more phone privileges.  You have a dead line to meet.  I’ll call you tomorrow with the meeting place.  Bye-bye now.”

                Bella placed the phone on the table before she broke it.  She watched as Jana and Kelley typed away.  She knew it would take a few minutes for them to be able to track down the location.  A few minutes later they had a map.

                “That’s like most of northern VA.  Is there anyway we can narrow down any more?” Bella asked as she looked over the map.

                “Not really.  She’d have to call back.  The call just wasn’t long enough to track her closer.”

                “We could contact his family.  He said they knew what to do.”

                “How?  They don’t know about me or his other experiments.  As far as they know he’s head of companies for security software and another medical facility used for finding cures for diseases.  Both are legit businesses that they think are safe and profitable.  They don’t know the other stuff,” Bella said in a huff of frustration. 

                “What did he mean about the warehouse?”

                “I don’t know,” Bella sat on the edge of the table then she jumped up and grabbed her bag and keys, “come on.  I know where they’re at.”

                “What?”

                “The warehouse was a local hang out back in the day for him.  It was in DC.  DC is close enough to Arlington so she picked up a VA tower,” she said as she headed for the door.

                “How do you know that?” Kelley asked as she shut down the computers.

                “Because he took me there before.  Years ago when he tried to help me find a boyfriend,” she laughed.

                “Wow.  So they’re close to the DC boarder.  She called from Carlisle’s phone so we can actually track it once we’re in range.  She turned off the GPS application but he keeps another GPS for this reason.  If we get with in four miles I’ll be able to track it,” Jana said as she grabbed her shotgun and bag.

                “We’ll save him.”

                Bella got in the drivers seat and started up as they got into the car.  They talked strategy as they headed out of town.  They stopped at Jana’s to get armed up and a change of clothes since her place was the closest.  She stopped to fill the tank then they hit the highway.  It would take about forty-five minutes to get there.  When they arrived they watched the time.

                “Okay we have four hours before the sun begins to peek its little head out.  I’d like to be at home and in bed when that happens,” Bella said as she made sure that her gun was loaded.

                “Alright.”

                “Any luck?” she turned to Jana.

                “Nothing yet.  You want to get out and walk or drive around some more?”

                “Drive that way we look a little less suspicious.”

                “Just as long as they’re no where near Pennsylvania Ave I don’t care,” Jana said as she watched the screen of her phone.

                “Well that’s where the warehouse used to be.  I guess I should drive west from here,” she pointed to what had been turned into a café.

                “Sounds like a plan.”

                They drove for about half an hour before her phone gave off a bleep.  Bella pulled over and parked.

                “So do we go around back or you want to walk on up front?”

                “Not gonna matter,” she pointed to the laser.

                They all raced from the car and took cover.  Not a moment too soon as the missile crashed into the car and it exploded.

                “So much for the element of surprise,” Jana whispered and aimed in the direction the missile had come from.

                “You see anything?”

                “Nope. Go to Bluetooth mode ladies.”

                They all switched on their ear pieces.  It made for quieter communication and allowed them to focus on the threat at hand.  Bella motioned for them to cross the street and head to the holding place.  She had their backs covered.  They hunkered down and quickly and quietly made their way to the alley.  They knew they had to move fast or Carlisle would be dead.  Bella joined them.  They had succeeded in getting into the building without being shot.  She motioned them forward.  She could feel Carlisle a few floors below them.

                “You guys take the stairs and I’ll go down the elevator shaft,” she whispered, “if you need me call for me.”

                “Sure.”

                Bella pushed the doors open.  There was no hum of electricity so she was safe as she climbed down the shaft.  She gulped as she looked down.  She grumbled at herself for such a stupid idea.  She took a deep breath and descended.

                Kelley met with a few body guards.  She shot and killed all three before they had time to think about what happened.  She eased her way down the last flight of stairs.  Jana had taken the other flight on the other side and she wished they had taken the same flight even though it wasn’t tactically sound.  She hated the dark more than anything else.  She made her way to the floor and she heard them before she saw them.

                Jana was pissed that he had kicked her gun from her hand.  She hated the idea of being unarmed.  She ducked and swung at him and caught him in the stomach.  She jumped back as he kicked at her.  She hated to fight she was more of the kill first ask questions later type.  When he grabbed her by the hair she growled low and kicked him with all her might.  He let go and doubled over.  When he went forward she brought her foot down on the base of his neck and he dropped to the floor.

                “Fucking dick,” she spit on him and went for her gun.

                “What was that?” Bella asked with laugh.

                “Nothing.  Just getting into the floor.  Going to silent.”

                Bella made it down the shaft and pushed the doors open.  She crawled across the floor on her belly to stay as low as possible.  She ducked behind a column and took the safety off her gun.  She loaded one in the chamber and stood.  She walked straight to middle of the floor where Carlisle was tied to a chair.

                “Isabella. A very bad surprise,” the tall red head said.

                “Hair like flames,” she quoted Carlisle’s message.

                “Yes dear.”

                “Victoria,” she pointed her gun at her.

                “Hm.  Now how did you get so smart?  I am guessing that you have not brought what I want.”

                “You would be guessing correctly.  Now let Carlisle go.”

                “Oh how cute.  You and your little gun are so adorable. You failed to realize I am not alone,” she lifted her hand and lasers from rifles appeared on Bella’s chest.

                “You forget who I am,” she lifted one hand from the gun and snapped twice.

                All the lasers disappeared and the bodies fell from the hiding spots.  Victoria’s eyes grew wide.  She hadn’t expected Bella to have those types of powers.  She did not realize that Jana and Kelley had silencers on their guns and had taken out her sharper shooters.

                “So again release him.”

                “Never.”

                A few more men filtered into the room and began to fire on her.  She dodged and found a good spot to hide.  She reached around and shot blindly.  She heard Victoria drag a struggling Carlisle as her hired henchmen fired.  She heard bodies began to drop so she knew that Kelley and Jana were still hidden but active and killed as many as they could.  When all went silent she raced from her hiding spot.  She raced toward them.  Kelley was by her side in a moment and they were headed in Jana’s direction.

                “Ah you had back up.  Too bad too sad,” from nowhere she pulled a gun and went to fire on them.

                “No!” Jana dived from her spot and took two into her chest but not before she got Victoria between the eyes.

                “Jana!” Kelley raced to her side as Bella undid Carlisle’s bounds.

                “Fuck!  Being shot sucks,” Jana said as she lay in Kelley’s arms.

                “Ya think,” Bella was by her side in a moment.

                “Give me space ladies,” Carlisle knelt by her as well, “I’m gonna lay you on your back flat.  It’s going to be uncomfortable.”

                “I don’t think it’s going to be worse than taking two to the chest.   I got her right?” she coughed.

                “Yes you got her,” Bella’s eyes began to tear.

                “Bitch went down,” Jana quietly said with smile.

                Carlisle tore open her shirt and smiled as she blushed.  He pressed around the wounds to decipher how deep they were.  He pulled the hand sanitizer from his pocket and a knife.

                “Okay this is going to hurt.  I’m only going to be able to remove one.  The other is too deep.”

                “Don’t.  I did what I was supposed to do.  I’ve lived my life.  Remember your family is the most important Carlisle.  Nothing else really matters.  Bella and Kelley,” she turned her head and coughed up blood, “they are my family.”

                “Jana Pearl Williamson, you are not giving up.  Don’t be stupid.”

                “I need a health squad like ten minutes ago,” Kelley screamed into her phone.

                Bella watched as Carlisle worked on Jana.  That was she realized that there was red seeping through from his side.  She went to him and touched his shoulder as he held the bundle of fabric against Jana’s chest.

                “Carlisle, you're injured.”

                “It’s just a flesh wound.  She stabbed me.  I’ll be fine.”

               

                Edward got the call and woke up his mother.  The sun had just hit the horizon as he drove his family to the hospital.  They rushed into the building to the surgical floor.  His family met with the doctors and was told of his condition.  He was more than relieved to know that his father was ok.  They rejoiced that it was just a quick surgery and they would be able to see him within the hour.  Edward went to the cafeteria as he realized he hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before.  He had made plans for dinner that he had to cancel and hadn’t thought about food since.

 He ate alone while the rest of his family waited in the waiting room.  He finished a quick breakfast and headed back up to his family.  Edward hummed as he made his way to the waiting area.  As he rounded the corner he stopped in his tracks and looked at her.  It was Bella at the nurse’s station.  He was about to make himself known when he caught her words.

“I brought in Mr. Cullen.  I just wanted to make sure his family had made it in for him.  I don’t want to leave him alone if they haven’t.”

“Yes ma’am they’ve been here for about twenty minutes.  They are in the waiting room.  Would you like me to let them know you’re here?”

“Oh no that isn’t necessary.  I’ve got to be getting home.  Where’s the elevator straight to the underground parking deck?”

“On the back wall from here,” she pointed and caught sight of Edward, “oh there’s one of Mr. Cullen’s sons now.”

Bella turned and her mouth fell opened.  Bella couldn’t begin to describe the way that she felt at that moment.  His family emergency was her same call back to work.  They had a lot of explaining to do.  Her eyes shot to the window.  She only had minutes before she needed to be in the elevator and in the back of the car as Kelley drove.

“Bella.”

“Edward.”

The nurse felt the tension and made her self busy and walked away.  Bella looked passed him to the elevator.  She took a deep breath and walked passed him.  Edward of course grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away.

“Edward I don’t have time.  Please we can talk about this later.”

“We’ll talk now.  How do you know my father?”

“Please,” Bella looked at the window as the sun inched closer to them. 

“No we need to talk now.”

“Fine, come with me then.”

“No.  How can I trust you?  Did you take my father?  Who are you?”

“Please Edward.  I need to leave,” she tried to pull her arm from him.

“Not until you explain.”

“Edward,” Bella looked him straight in the eye, “come with me and I will explain everything.  You don’t want to do this here in public,” she appealed to his logical side.

“Fine.  I’ll meet you in the deck.  I want to tell my family.”

“Good.  I’m parked right outside the door.”

Bella kissed him quickly and raced to the elevator.  She let out a heavy sigh.  She got out on the bottom floor.  Kelley started the car and popped the trunk.  They had borrowed one of the company cars that didn’t have the special tint so she had to hide.  Bella climbed in and closed the trunk.  They got to the apartment in no time.

“Kelley.  I love you don’t you forget that.  You sure you don’t want to stay?”

“I can’t not right now.  I need to go vent and let go before we’re together again.”

“Call me if you need anything.”

“Ditto.”

Bella took the service elevator up and went to her apartment.  She allowed herself to cry in the shower.  She composed herself and went to bed.  It had been a long day and she needed her rest.  She checked her timer on her drapes to make sure they were still set and wouldn’t open too soon.  She cuddled down into the sheets and drifted to sleep.

Bella knew she had been sleep a long time but still was not ready to get out the bed.  Then she felt movement in the room.  She reached for her gun.  She sat up and aimed.  Her eyes adjusted to the dark.  She smelt something wrong.  Her eyes focused on Edward by her drapes.

“Wake up and tell me what is going on,” he flung the drapes open.

“Edward NO!!”


	9. Finally

                Edward made his way home angry that Bella had not waited for him.  He’d gone to the parking garage and she was nowhere to be found.  He had gone back up to meet his father once they allowed people into his room.  Edward had tried to get his father alone to ask questions but the doctors ushered them out so his father could rest.  His mother had stayed by his father’s side and the children had gone home to catch up on some sleep.

                Edward stopped and grabbed a five hour energy drink so that he could make it home safely.  When he had arrived home he had sat in his car.  He had made his way to the door.  Bella’s door.  He had asked his other neighbors had they seen her.  Bella had been home a few hours Mrs. Darling had said. 

Edward knocked on her door.  No answer.  He tried a few more times and still there was no answer.  He went to his apartment and took a quick shower.  Edward wanted a moment to calm himself.  He dressed and went to the rental office.  He gave a very bad excuse for needing the key.  It didn’t matter since he was a Cullen they didn’t care what the excuse was they just wanted to make sure he was happy.  Edward took the key and went back to her door.

                Edward entered her apartment and was shocked by the darkness.  He realized her drapes were pulled as they always were until she got home from work.  He hoped that she hadn’t left for work.

                “Bella,” he called and got no response.

                Edward peered in each of her front rooms and there was no sign of her.  He walked down the hall to the bedrooms.  He opened the door that he got to first and there was no one inside and the drapes were open.  Edward noticed that the room faced west so there wouldn’t be any sunlight until the evening when the sun set.  He moved to the next door and that was a bathroom.  He went down the hall to the last door.  He took a breath and opened the door.

                It was Bella’s bedroom.  He called her name and she didn’t even budge.  He went to her bedside and he smiled down at her.  Bella was a peaceful angel.  Her skin was as smooth as ever, her lashes laid dark against her pristine skin and her lips curved up in a smile.  He wanted to do nothing but kiss her and to crawl in the bed next to her.  Edward shook his head he needed answers.  That was why he was there to get the answers.

                Edward reached out and shook Bella gently.  She didn’t budge.  He called her name and shook her a little harder.  Bella rolled over and mumbled but she didn’t wake.  Edward sighed and went to the window.  He heard her roll over and he looked to her.  Bella seemed to be on the verge of waking up.  He knew that the sunlight would wake her.  He felt the air shift as he gripped the heavy drapes.  Then he heard her.  He looked over as she shot up in the bed and he threw the drapes open.

                “Wake up and tell me what’s going on.”                               

                “Edward NO!!”

                “What?”

                Edward watched as her skin seemed to go translucent then he smelled something burning.  She ducked under the covers quickly.  Bella screamed and began to weep.  He wasn’t sure what happened.  His heart sank as he listened to her weep.

                “Shut the curtains please.”

                “Okay,” he shut them quickly.

                “I don’t know why you're here or how you got in but that was a bad move on your part.  Please leave,” Bella stayed under the blanket.

                “I can’t.  You ditched me.  I need you to answer my questions.”

                “What did your father say?” her voice came out clearer more calm.

                “I didn’t have a chance to speak with him.  Why didn’t you wait for me?” he asked and walked to her bed.

                “You saw what just happened.  I cannot be in the sunlight.  I have solar urticaria.  You could have killed me,” Bella spoke as she peeked from under the covers.

                “I-I-I didn’t know.  I’m so sorry.”

                “You're a fucking loony,” Bella pushed the covers back and got out of bed.

                Bella’s skin was covered with blemishes and scorch marks that began to disappear.  She was glad that it was dark enough that Edward wouldn’t notice.  She knew she needed to get to her vitamins and protein in order to heal completely.

                “I am not.  Why were you with my father?” he asked as he walked behind her.

                “Your father,” she chuckled, “I didn’t know he was your father.  As far as I knew you were a Masen and not a Cullen,” she went to the kitchen still dressed in her boy cut shorts and tank top pajamas.

                “About that,” his eyes roamed over her body once they got into better light, “I didn’t want you to know I was wealthy.  People tend to act funny once they realize you are a Cullen.”

                “So you lied to me because you thought that I was that shallow?”

                “Yes I lied but I didn’t think you were shallow.  I was going to tell you yesterday.  I had everything planned out.”

                “So you're a Cullen, how nice is that?  I know your father through work,” Bella said as she pulled her blender down, “now both our secrets are out.”

                “What are you doing?” he watched as she put ingredients into the blender.

                “I am making a protein smoothie of sorts,” she poured different ingredients in.

                “Okay.  How’d you get to my father?  He was missing and all of a sudden he was safe with you.  Who are you?”

                “Edward stop asking questions you don’t want the answers to,” she turned on the blender.

                “Bella!” he had gotten frustrated.

                “What?” she turned off the blender and checked for chunks.

                “How do you really know my dad?  That’s another secret.  Did you try to kill him?”

                “Again I know Carlisle through work,” Bella turned the blender on again until the contents were liquefied and poured it into a cup.

                “Carlisle?  No one calls him by his name except family.  Everyone else calls him Mr. or Dr. Cullen,” he froze as he watched her drink, “are you having an affair with my dad?”

                “Pfft,” she spit her drink on him and laughed, “what?! No! Never.”

                “Ugh,” he wiped his face with the towel she handed him.

                “Sorry about that.  For the last time I work with him.  That’s all you need to know.”

                “He was injured and you brought him to the hospital.  It was all over the news that he was missing.”

                “Hm not everything that you see on the news is true,” Bella said as she sipped her drink and immediately felt better.

                “Bella please.”

                “Fine you want to know,” she slammed the glass down on the counter and it cracked but did not break, “I’m a licensed bounty hunter.  Some one did take your father.  I was on the case and found them.  I saved him and got him back to you.”

                Edward just stared at her.

                “I frigging tell you the truth and now you have nothing to say.  Figures.”

                “Sorry I just wasn’t expecting that. So you're not a translator.”

                “No.  I had to tell you why I could afford this place and that seemed to please you.”

                “You use guns?” he stepped closer to her.

                “Well duh why wouldn’t I?”

                “I think I need to take this off since someone spit on me,” he pulled his shirt off.

                “Shit you're turned on by this,” she smiled and shook her head.

                “Yeah maybe a little.”

                Edward felt confident as he reached out to touch her face.  Their eyes locked.  Bella saw the heat rise in his amber eyes and she knew that her own flickered blue.

                “Your eyes, they change colours,” he said as he leaned into her.

                “It happens when I get…emotional or excited,” she whispered as her eyes fluttered close.

                Edward wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her.  His heart beat heavily against his chest.  He felt the panic that he always did when he knew he was close to the point of no return.  Edward pushed it away.  He wanted it this time.  The woman he held had saved his father’s life and for that he was grateful.  She moaned as his hands slid over her body.  He wanted it.  He wanted her.

                Bella deepened the kiss and opened her lips for him.  She couldn’t stay mad at him when he was so intense.  Bella teased his lips with her tongue.  Her body wanted him as much as her heart did.  She enjoyed his firm body pressed against her.  She ran her fingers through his unruly hair as he backed her to the counter.  She moaned into his mouth as he bit her lip.

                Edward lifted her and sat her on the counter as his lips softly traveled to her neck and his hands made it up her shirt.  She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him as close as she could.  He cupped her breasts and she hissed in delight.  Edward kissed and nibbled her neck then made his way back to her mouth.  They kissed ferociously wanting the pleasure that each promised through the passion in their contact.

                Bella pulled back for a breath.  She pressed her teeth to his neck and nibbled on his sensitive skin.  Her hands went to his belt and he froze.  Her eyes fluttered open.  Edward eyes were closed but she still read the slight panic that etched its way onto his face.  It was the same look he always got when they reached that point.

                “Edward,” she said calmly, “what’s wrong?”

                “I-I want y-you so bad but I’m terrified,” his voice trembled as he answered honestly.

                “Baby why are you terrified?” she stroked his cheek with her thumb.

                “Because,” he blushed, “I’ve never been with a woman before.”

                “Oh…well…then your first time should not be in my kitchen.  Let’s go to the bedroom.”

                Bella hopped down off the counter when he stepped back.  She took his hand, kissed his knuckles, and led him back to her bedroom.  She pushed him gently onto her bed then turned on the bedside lamp so he could see her.  She slowly undressed for him.  Bella moved her hips to the music in her heart.  She smiled down at him. He rose up on his elbows to watch her.   His eyes took in beauty as she stood fully exposed.  Her tattoos told a story he knew that he’d knew he’d never really know.  There were light scars that were scattered sporadically over her flesh that held an entirely different story. 

                Bella crawled onto him and kissed him softly as she undid his pants.  She undressed him slowly and kissed every inch that she exposed.  She rubbed his thighs as she kissed his lower stomach.  She purposely left out his most intimate spot because she knew he would not last if she wrapped her lips around his length.  Bella wanted to but would wait.  She kissed, licked and nibbled her way up his body.  He began to pant just as she straddled him.  His erection pressed against her warmth.  From that position he wouldn’t be able to penetrate.  She wiggled her hips and he gasped just from the contact.  His hips bucked up involuntarily.

                “Do you want to be on top?” Bella asked him sweetly.

                “I don’t know.  Do I?”

                “You are too cute,” she kissed him as she rose up.

                Bella reached between them and guided him into her.  They both gasped at the sensation of is thick, throbbing length penetrated her warm moist flesh.  She bit her lip to keep from just dropping down quickly.  She allowed him to ease all the way into her.  She knew first timers needed patience and care or else it would be over quickly.  She wasn’t worried about condoms because she knew she couldn’t get pregnant but she noticed the worry that went across his face.  She leaned in and kissed him as she moved her hips.

                “No worries. I’m clean and I can’t get pregnant.”

                “Okay.”

                Edward grabbed her hips and pulled her down as she pushed all the way into her.  She threw her head back and moaned.  Bella squeezed around him as he continued to push.  He closed his eyes and allowed her to take control.  She knew more about it than he did and he didn’t want to stop the wonderful sensations that flooded him.  Edward liked the fact that she was a very vocal lover.  She got wetter and tighter around him with every thrust.  Her movements were precise and he felt himself hit her end.  Bella screamed pleasantly as she took all of him into her.  He filled her completely or least that was what she continued to scream over and over.  He cupped her breasts and brought them to his mouth and suckled each as she rode him.

                Bella squealed and began to increase her speed.  She met his every thrust and made sure he knew that it felt as good to her as it was for him.  She was surprised that he hadn’t come yet since it was his first time.  She was proud of him in a strange way.  Edward was thicker and longer than most everyone else she had been with before and she enjoyed the stretching.  He grunted as she increased her movements again.  She felt him hit her cervix and had to bite her tongue not to scream out.  It was a delicious pain.  She knew if she shifted just right he would hit her golden spot.  She rose up so she was in a squat position and tilted her self forward.  He had to release her breasts in that position.

                Edward moaned as he sank deeper into her.  She grabbed his hand and placed it over her clit.  She showed him what she wanted then let him go.  She bounced up and down and he hit her spot every single time.  He had read that most women would have trouble with someone of his size but she knew exactly how to take him.  She was so tight he wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to hold back.  Then he felt the warmth surf through him followed by the tingles.  His breathing grew erratic with each time she moved on top of him.

                “Bel…Bella,” he moaned and prayed he wouldn’t wake and it would be a dream.

                “Let….it go…I’m right behind you,” her voice was strained with her pending release.

                Everything sped up then slowed down as he pushed into her in quick strokes.  He climaxed with a deep throaty growl. She followed moments after and collapsed onto him.  They lay there panting and wrapped up in each other.  She mumbled under her breath as he pulled out.  She snuggled into him and went to sleep.

                Bella woke with the most delicious ache between her legs.  She remembered what had happened.  She smiled and cuddled closer to him.  He was still sleep.  She listened to his heart beat.  She had waited so long for him and he had not disappointed.  She thought about the conversation before they had ended up in the bedroom.  She had kind of told him the truth.  She had given him as much information that she felt comfortable with and not have to ask his father questions.  His father.  She sighed as she thought about what that meant.  She didn’t like the idea of dating her boss’s son but she cared too much for him to end it.  She made note to talk to Carlisle about it.

                “Hm it wasn’t a dream,” he mumbled as he woke up.

                “Nope.”

                “Good,” he wrapped his arms around her, “I think I might have killed myself if it had been.”

                “Hm sounds like you had been having a lot of wet dreams about me sparrow huh?”

                “A few maybe.”

                “So how was your first time?”

                “Very good.  Not as perfect as I had planned but it was with the right person so it didn’t matter.”

                “You planned losing your virginity?” she looked up at him.

                “Yes,” he blushed, “that was what our date was for.  I had a wonderful dinner planned then I had my vacation cabin set up perfectly.  I wanted it to be amazing for you.”

                “Aw that’s so adorable.  I bet there were rose petals involved.”

                “Maybe.”

                “Yup you are too cute for your own good.”

                “Well we should probably get up and start the day.”

                “You might want to but I am in here for another seven hours.  I can’t leave until the sun is down.”

                “Right.  Well then I’ll have to come back to you.  I’ll run home and shower then be right back.”

                “Ok,” she pulled him down and kissed him, “or we could go another round.”

                “I think we better not.  I took an energy drink and it has worn off.  Showering will bring me back.  I’ll be back in no time promise.”

                “Ok.”

                Edward got out of bed and dressed.  He leaned in and kissed her before he left to his apartment.  He whistled as he made his way to his bedroom.  It had been everything that he had heard.  He hadn’t expected it to be.  He had thought that it would have been all hype and nothing but a sweaty boring time.  Bella had proved to him that it wasn’t boring.  It was magical.  He laughed to himself as he showered.  He dried and dressed then headed to the kitchen.  He decided that lunch was a good idea since he hadn’t eaten since the cafeteria.  He made a quick lunch for two and packed it to take to Bella’s apartment.

                “Hey.  I saw the news.  Is everything ok with your family?” Jacob asked as he came in from classes.

                “Yeah.  Dad is fine.  It was a scare but he’s safe.”

                “Good,” Jacob sat his books down and looked at Edward, “oh my lord you did it.”

                “What?” Edward looked up quick to Jacob.

                “You had sex,” a smile spread across his face.

                “Yes,” he blushed, “how can you tell?”

                “I don’t know I just can.  How was it?” Jacob sat at the bar as Edward packed everything in a bag.

                “It was amazing.  I went there and she comforted me then one thing led to another.  It was more than I thought it was going to be.”

                “I am so happy for you.  Now you’re taking her lunch how cute.  By chance has she mentioned Jana?  We were supposed to have breakfast before I had classes to discuss our vacation and she never showed.  She didn’t call and wasn’t answering her phone.”

                “Nope.  Maybe she was busy.  She may have forgotten.  She doesn’t seem like a morning person.  I’d try calling her now.”

                “Okay.  Well go on and have you after sex lunch.”

                “See ya later.”

                Edward went back to her apartment and let himself in.  Bella was in the den on her laptop.  As soon as he entered she closed it.  She smiled at him.  He placed lunch on the table.

                “Hey there,” she kissed him lightly on the lips as he sat down.

                “I brought lunch.  I wasn’t sure what you liked.  I made pasta salad and roast beef sandwiches.”

                “Thanks but I can’t have that.”

                “Oh I’m sorry.  Are you a vegetarian?”

                “No I just can’t eat solid foods like that.  I have a problem digesting it.  That’s why you see me with the shakes and broth.  Thank you for thinking about me though,” Bella got up and made a cup of chicken broth.

                “Wow does it come from the solar urticaria?”

                “They don’t really know,” she sat back down a few minutes later.

                “That explains why there wasn’t any food in your fridge.”

                “Yeah.  I keep stuff in the freezer for when I have guests but I can’t eat it.  How’d you get in here this morning?  I had my doors locked.”

                “Well…see,” he looked down at his lunch, “I kind of lied to the rental people and got a spare key.”

                “Wow.  It’s a good thing that I like you.  That is just a bit creepy.  Now hand it over.  You’ll get a key when I feel you're ready for it.”

                “Yes ma’am,” he took the key from his pocket and handed it to her, “oh by the way have you heard from Jana? She missed a date with Jacob this morning.”

                “Oh…uh she’s sick,” she looked down at her spoon, “she is feeling a bit under the weather.”

                “You're lying to me,” he looked at her and tilted her chin up so he could look in her eyes, “there are tears in your eyes.  What’s going on?”

                “Nothing,” she jumped up, ran to the bathroom and locked herself in.

                “Bella.  What’s the matter?  You can talk to me.”

                “Just give me a few minutes please.”

                Edward went back to the table and finished his lunch. He was about to go to check on Bella when her front door open and Kelley entered.  Kelley looked worn and tired.  She had an urn in her hands and she stopped when she saw Edward.

                “Hey,” Kelley placed the urn on the table in front the couch.

                “Hey.  You okay?  You look sick.”

                “Yeah that damn flu has caught up with me.  Ooh is that pasta salad?  Can I have some?”

                “Sure.  I brought enough for two and Bella can’t have it.”

                “Where is she?” she sat down and picked up a fork.

                “She wasn’t feeling well either.  She’ll be back.”

                “Kells hey what are you doing here?” Bella asked when she came out.

                “Just wanted to drop by and share my germs,” she laughed half heartedly.

                “Eww.  That is the last thing I need.”

                “Well Bella I’ll see you this evening.  I need to get to work,” Edward kissed her and left.

                “Shit fucking shit,” Bella flopped down in a chair.

                “You slept with him,” Kelley stated as she ate.

                “Yeah.  He’s suspicious.  Jacob had a morning date planned.”

                “What are you going to tell him?”

                “That she doesn’t want to see him anymore,” she ran her hand through her hair.

                “I’ve got her on the table.  Carlisle placed the orders immediately.  I figured you’d want her since you guys were closer.”

                “Thank you.”

                They both grew quiet and stared at the urn that contained their best friend. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for continuing to read. I'm going to have it up tonight as fast as possible.


	10. Mourning

                Bella took a deep breath and she made her way to Edward’s apartment.  It had been two days since they had slept together.  She had avoided him to get herself together and the need to avoid Jacob.  Bella reached his door and went to knock and heard his television through the door.  She just turned the knob and the door opened.  Edward was sitting on the couch with his back to her.  She looked up at what he watching and burst into giggles.  Edward turned around and turned off the television.

                “W-was that Jonas?” she asked between giggles as she sat by him.

                “Uh…no.”

                “I think it was.  You like the Jonas brothers and their silly little TV show.  I thought you were a dork before but this takes you to a new level of dorkary.”

                “Shit you were not supposed to just walk in like that.”

                “I know all your secrets now,” she said with a giggle.

                “Whatever.  So what did you want to talk about?”

                “It’s about us. I just want to make sure that we are on the same page with our relationship.  I am your girlfriend and you are my boyfriend.  I know that sounds elementary but I just don’t have the terminology.”

                “Ok.  I get that.  I am yours no worries I have no intentions of not living up to my end of the bargain,” he put his arm around her shoulders.

                “Excellent.  So what are we going to do tonight?”

                “I don’t know what you're going to do tonight but I have dinner with the family.  You could always come,” his face brightened at the thought of introducing her to his family.

                “Uh not a good idea.  Remember that your father and I kind of have already met and that would not look good when he gives me a strange look and cannot explain it to Mrs. Cullen.”

                “Hmm….I guess that’s true.”

                “I’ll be home this evening when you get back.  I don’t have any bounties tonight.”

                “Hey Bella,” Jacob said as he came in from the gym, “I’m not trying to pry but Jana hasn’t returned my calls for a few days and she’s missed two dates, is she not interested in me any more?”

                “Well….Jacob, I can honestly say when ever the future had been spoken of you guys have three kids and your white picket fence,” she walked over to him.

                “Good.  I think I may have freaked her out when I told her I could see falling in love with her.  Since then she has been distant.”

                “Oh Jacob,” she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight then raced from the apartment.

                “What was that about?” Jacob asked as he shut the door behind her.

                “I have no clue.”

 

                Bella went to her apartment and slammed the door shut.  She cursed and paced the apartment.  She had no idea what she would do about Jacob.  She knew that she couldn’t keep it a secret forever but she didn’t want to crush his spirit either.  She walked over to where Jana rested on her mantle over the faux fireplace.   She picked up the urn and shook it angrily.

                “You knew there would be armor piercing bullets.  Why didn’t you wear your vest?  Why?  We have special vest you idiot.  Now you’ve left me to clean up this mess,” tears streamed down her face, “I love you so much and now you're gone.”

                She fell to her knees and cradled the urn to her chest.  She had lost her best friend and she couldn’t let the one person she cared the most about hold her and tell her it would be fine.  She knew she couldn’t blame Jana for her death.  None of them had thought about changing before they made the rescue.  She had known that it was always a risk.  Jana hadn’t gotten the regenerative abilities from the experiment that she and Kelley had.  Even if she had she was sure that a bullet lodge in the heart wouldn’t be healed.  She allowed herself to cry.  She had kept it in as she tried to push it away as if it didn’t exist.  She sighed and wiped her face with one hand and sat Jana back in place.  She resolved to tell the truth sooner than later.  She knew that she couldn’t lie forever.

****

                Edward packed up his bag as he readied to leave work.  He had wanted to cut his hours and David could use the extra hours so he’d given up the rest of his shift so David could pull forty hours for the week without a problem.

                “Hey dude what’s up?” Jacob asked as he pulled his comics from his box.

                “Not much.  Just heading out.  Don’t forget that Bella’s is coming over for dinner.  Please be on time.”

                “I will.  I don’t have to work so once I’ve done what I need to do I’ll be there.  You’re heading to meet your dad?”

                “Yup.   Gonna surprise him for lunch.  We don’t do big parties for birthdays so I’m gonna head up there and take him lunch and his present.”

                “What do you get one of the richest men in the world?”

                “I found my baby shoes and foot prints so I had them bronzed.  Plus an iPod.  I’m trying to bring him into the year 2001,” he said with a laugh.

                “He’s only a few years late.  I hope you didn’t get him a touch.  He will be there forever trying to get that thing to work.”

                “I know, I started with a normal one.  Emmett’s getting him the Motorola CLIQ so I figured he’s the right one to piss dad off this year.”

                “Oh he is going to catch it,” Jacob laughed as he placed his comics on the counter.

                “Hey Edward thanks again for the hours,” David said as he rang Jacob up.

                “I’d be a horrible band mate if I didn’t think about the rest of band.  Plus I get out here early and start my three day weekend.”

                “Don’t forget we’re not practicing this weekend since Wade is taking Kelley out of town.”

                “Great.  We’ll I’ll see you guys later.”

                Edward got in his car and headed to his dad’s office.  He stopped at his favorite restaurant and picked up lunch.  He smiled as he headed to the elevator.  He had the bag with lunch in one hand and the present in the other.  He hummed as he made his way to his dad’s office as he stepped off the elevator.  He smiled at his secretary who buzzed him in so the door would automatically open.  Edward walked in and the office was empty.  Then he noticed a light at the other end of the office.  He sat everything down and pulled the little cupcake out and put a candle in it.  He walked to the door and starting singing happy birthday as he rounded the door.    He stopped mid song as he took in the image in front of him.

                “Edward!” Bella and Carlisle said in unison then looked at each other.

                “W-what is this?” he looked at the weapons that lay on the table and the fact that Bella was in midst of fastening a lot of them to her being.

                “Son,” he got up from his spot, “I’ll explain everything.  Please give us a moment.  Thanks for the cupcake,” he blew out the candle.

                Edward turned around and left the hidden office and sat the cupcake down.  He was terrified and intrigued at the same time.  He had a million questions.  The one thing that he did realize was that Bella had lied to him.  He was upset with that since they had a promise to be forthcoming with everything.  He felt insecure all of a sudden.  He waited for his father and Bella to come out. 

                “Hey sorry I’m late I was just--” Kelley said as she entered the office, “oh shit.”

                “Yea oh shit is about right,” Edward said as he took a seat in the chair closet to his father’s desk.

                “Kelley so good to see you can be here,” Carlisle said in an all business tone even with his son there.

                “Sorry sir,” she gave a nervous glance to Edward.

                “No worries.  I am going to fill him in.”

                “Ok,” she went into the hidden office with Bella.

                “Edward, son.”

                “How do you know Bella?”

                “I would ask you the same.  Bella and I work together.”

                “No not that answer.  I saw her.  When you were at the hospital and I know she brought you there.  She said that she is a bounty hunter and had rescued you but I have a feeling that that isn’t the case at all,” he stood up.

                “She is a bounty hunter.  Edward there is a lot of people who do not approve of all the research that we do.  For that reason I have had to hire security.  Bella is part of that security team,” Carlisle lied flawlessly.

                “Why all those weapons?  That seems a little much.  Mom was right you shouldn’t have come back to work so soon.  You need your rest.”

                “It was just a flesh wound and I’m fine.  I have to have them prepared for anything.”

                “So Kelley my friend’s girlfriend and my girlfriend are hired security to protect my dad?” he believed it because it made so much sense but it was too easy an answer.

                “Yes.  Now how do you know Bella?”

                “Bella and I have been dating for a few months now.  I don’t get why you couldn’t just tell me about all this,” he said as he turned to Bella.

                “Because it wasn’t my place.  I’ve been doing this type of job for a very long time.  The less the people I love know the safer they are.  I am here to protect your father.  This is business and you are pleasure.  I will not mix the two.”

                “Great is that why Jana hasn’t returned Jacob’s calls?  Is she too busy with you guys?” he asked angrily.

“Jana’s dead,” she blurted out.

                “What?!” he looked at her then to his father.

                “She went through the night to save your dad and she was killed during the rescue attempt.  You can’t tell Jacob.  He would be devastated.”

                “Oh my god.  She was like your best-friend and you never said anything.”

                “I know.”

                Edward felt all of his anger melt away.  He pulled Bella into his arms and held her.  He looked to his father and to Kelley.  They both had tears in their eyes.  He couldn’t imagine what it had been like.  They had all kept it a secret and had dealt with it silently.  He knew how much she had meant to Kelley and Bella by his dad’s reaction he knew that he had lied about how long he had known them.  He wouldn’t push it.  He kissed Bella’s cheek and looked into her deep brown eyes.  They looked almost black as she stared at him.

                “I’m so sorry for your lost.  You could’ve said something to me.  I have no idea what I’m going to tell Jacob.  He really was falling for her.”

                “We’ll tell him she had to go home to Haiti and apologize for her not telling him,” Bella said.

                “No.  We’re going to have to tell him the truth.  He has to know why she hasn’t contacted him.”

                “You're right.  Well I have somewhere to get to before they get any closer,” she wiped her face.

                “You're like a spy too?”

                “Surveillance.  We have to make sure who is a real threat and who is not.  This building has upped their security since what happened in the last office.  Your dad will be fine while he’s here.  Happy birthday Carlisle.”

                “Thank you.”

                “Dad,” he started after Kelley and Bella were gone, “is your job really that dangerous?”

                “Yes.  Some people don’t want to cure anything and others want to use the technology that we have to develop other harmful things,” he leaned back in his chair.

                “I feel sad not knowing these things.  It’s like a lost of innocence all of a sudden.  I realize I’m not a child any more and that my father’s life is at risk daily.  How come you never said anything to us?”

                “I don’t want you to worry.  Please do not tell your mother.  She cannot know because she’ll force me into an early retirement.”

                “I won’t.  I’ll keep your secret.”

                “So you and Bella?  She has a good head on her shoulders I know.  I forbid you to see more of her.”

                “You what?!”

                “Her job is not a safe job.  I will not have you heart broken or put in any danger.  You are my child and I cannot risk losing you because someone comes after you while you're on a date.”

                “Dad! You can’t do that.  I mean, if people are after you like before then maybe being with her is safer for me.  Or else I’ll be by myself and could seriously get hurt.”

                “No Edward I would like you to end it as soon as possible.”

                “But dad I care for her deeply.”

                “I know.  Please think about it.  You’ll see that I’m correct,” he lifted the bag, “great I’m starving.  What did you bring me?”

                “So you’re just going to act like that shit didn’t just happen?”

                “Son watch your language.”

                “I’m out of here,” he turned and left the office.

 

                “Wow,” Kelley said as she drove and Bella was safely hidden in the back behind the special tinted windows.

                “Yea.”

                “So what are you going to do?”

                “I have no choice but to break up with him.  It was fine when Carlisle didn’t know since we don’t know each other like we do now but since all secrets are out I don’t believe it’s safe.”

                “I get that.  It makes sense in its own way.  Do you want me to stop seeing Wade?”

                “No never.  If he ever asks about me just tell him it isn’t of his business.”

                “Ok.”

                “So where are headed?”

                “DC.”

                “Should be an easy trip.  He wants us to get a third.”

                “No.”

                “That’s what I said.  We’re strong enough as a duo,” Bella said as she looked through the tinted windows at the highway.

                “How long do you think he’ll let us stay a duo?”

                “Forever until one of us dies.  He’ll give us easier jobs.  He isn’t going to risk us.  That’s why he added the extra armor to the cars and required us to wear the new vests.  It hurt him a lot to lose Jana.  She was his cheerleader for new recruits and part of his family like we are.  It’s like he lost a daughter out there.”

                “Dammit this sucks.”

                “Amen to that.”

                They hit DC a couple of hours later.  They finished their job and headed back to Dorchester.  By the time they arrived back it was evening.  It had been a rather simple snatch and go mission.  They turned the documents into Carlisle’s secretary since he had gone for the day.  Bella made sure that it was sealed.  Her and Kelley parted ways and she headed down to the gym area and showered.  She dressed and headed home.  Once she arrived to her apartment she knew something wasn’t right.  She pulled her pistol from her hip as she turned the key in her door.  She dropped her arm as the sweet smell of roses filled her nose.  She entered the apartment that was lit only by candles dozens of them all over her living and dining rooms.  Just as many roses littered the tables and floor.  Edward walked up the hall.  She smiled and shook her head.  When he was within feet of her he dropped to one knee.

                “Bella be my wife,” he opened the ring box and there was a sparkling sapphire ring.

               


	11. Destiny or Timing

                “Bella be my wife.”

                Bella looked on at the beautiful ring that she could tell was an antique probably a family heirloom.  She looked from the ring to him and back again.  For once her mind was blank.  There was nothing there at all.  Her usual internal monologue and random thoughts were nowhere.  Her mind was the calm before the storm.  Bella sighed and opened her mouth to respond and she couldn’t close it fast enough.  The chuckles started soft and then turned into side splitting laughter.  Bella wasn’t sure how long she laughed but her sides hurt and tears streamed down her cheeks.  Edward had stood from his knees.  She began to cough and gasp.  Bella rested her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.  She inhaled deeply and shook her head.  She looked up at a very confused Edward.

                “S-sorry.  I thought you were serious there for a moment.”

                “I am,” he said as he stood in front her.

                “There’s no way you can be serious.  As much as we have a nice relationship and we like each other a lot, you don’t even know me for real.  You almost killed me just a few days ago.  I just found out you're my boss’s kid.  We have a lot of time to go before we even can think about moving in together let alone getting married,” she patted him on the shoulder and went to the kitchen, “and how exactly did you get in here?”

                “Rental office is just so helpful when you smell a gas leak.”

                “You might as well make a copy.  There, that is a step closer to being that serious.  What the hell prompted the proposal?” she asked as she poured herself a drink.

                “Well,” Edward looked at the floor as he shoved the ring box into his pocket, “I have been forbidden to see you.”

                “What?”

                “Yeah.  My dad said he knows he’s risking my life but he doesn’t want to put me in more danger than necessary. He wants me to break it off with you.”

                “Well how funny is that?  I came home to figure out how to break up with you,” Bella sipped her vitamin water as she took a seat on the stool.

                “Y-you're breaking up with me?”

                “Uh…your father isn’t wrong.  I live a dangerous life and now that you know about it that will make it a little more dangerous for us to be dating so openly.”

                “Bella.  I don’t think so.  I care for you.  I care for you so much.  I cannot just let you walk away.  I know you feel there is more than just mere infatuation between us.  Even Jana said so.  She knew we had a future together.  It was one of the last things we ever talked about.  So you cannot just leave me.”

                “Edward you do realize that this was not up for discussion right?  I have already made the choice.  We are no longer a couple.”

                “Isabella Swan you will listen to me,” Edward slammed his fist on the table.

                “That is so cute.  I can kill you in less than five minutes without breaking a sweat so that little power play of yours is useless,” Bella stood and walked to the door, “you can keep the key just in case of emergency but do not use it without my permission,” she opened the door.

                “What?”

                “Go Edward.  Leave now please.”

                “Fine but I’m not giving up,” Edward said as he walked out of the door.

                Bella shut the door and locked it.  She pulled the chain and slid the bar across.  She heaved another sigh and went to her bedroom.  Bella took a breath and knew exactly what she needed to relieve her strength.  She went to her room and stripped off her work gear and pulled on her favorite gray lounge pants and a dark blue tank top.  She turned up her stereo and allowed her body to feel the music as she went to the kitchen to make a smoothie.  She danced around the apartment and sang at the top of her lungs until she felt all of the stress melt away as the sweat began to bead and drip.  Bella finished her smoothie and continued to dance until she felt she couldn’t lift her legs any more.  She got into the shower and let the water run over until it ran cold.  She dried and pulled on her pajamas.  She sat down in front her television and wished she had a pet besides her fish to play with.  She turned on her Xbox and played Dragon Age until she couldn’t keep her eyes open.  Bella crawled into bed and tried not to think of Edward.

 

                Edward went back to his apartment and threw a hissy-fit.   It was a very manly hissy-fit.  Then he settled down in front of his television and played GTA until he had slain half the city and paid some prostitutes way through college.  He turned off his console and stretched.  He went to bed and got up the next morning and repeated his normal day.  He was auto pilot for several days before he caught up with himself.

When Edward got home from work he went to the gym and spent an hour on the punching bag venting his frustrations.  He went back to his apartment and showered.  He wasn’t ready to call it love but he knew it had been on its way to love.  Otherwise he wouldn’t have proposed to her.  Edward knew if he married her that his father would have nothing else to say.  He hadn’t wanted to break up and he was going to make sure she knew that.

                Edward rested his arms against the wall right under the shower head.  The warm water flowed massaging his flesh before it made its way to the drain.  His hair fell in his face and was heavy against his cheeks.  He had lost her and he had wanted nothing more than to be with her.  First his father and then his girlfriend herself had made the decision for him.  He hated not having control in his own life.  He finished his shower and dressed in his pajamas.  He stood in front the mirror and sighed.  He wasn’t bad looking and he knew that if need be he had the power to defend himself.  He knew at that moment that he wouldn’t be able to live without her and with the decision. 

                “Edward, are you home?” Jacob said as he came in.

                “I’m back in my room.”

                “Hey. Have you talked to Bella?”

                “No.  We’re still broken up for now,” he said as he walked to the door and passed him.

                “Oh,” his shoulders slumped.

                “Look Jake,” he couldn’t hold it in anymore his friend needed to know, “sit down man.”

                “Shit what’s up?”

                “It’s about Jana.”

                “What?  Did she really dump me and you were covering for her?”

                “No,” he took his hands and looked him in the eye, “Jana passed away.”

                “W-wh-what?” his hands began to shake.

                “Yeah.  I didn’t know how to tell you.  Jana was in an accident and she was instantly killed.  She didn’t suffer.  That was what Bella was supposed to have dinner with us and tell you.  Bella was terrified because she knew how much you truly cared for her.”

                “N-no.  I-it can’t be.”

                “I am so sorry man,” he hugged him to his chest as he let the tears flow.

                “I can’t…believe she’s gone.  Was there a funeral?”

                “No.  Her parents are deceased and her sisters hadn’t been really close.  Bella was all she had.  Bella has her ashes if you would like to, ya know, see her.”

                Edward held Jacob as he cried endlessly.  Edward felt his own tears trail down his face.  He rocked him and hummed softly as he comforted his best-friend.  He hadn’t wanted to be the one to tell him but he knew he couldn’t avoid the truth any more.  When Jacob had ceased crying he went and grabbed him a bottle of water and a cold wash cloth.  Edward had never seen Jacob cry.  Not since they had buried his mom when he still lived on the reservation when they were children.  He wanted nothing more than to make his pain go away but he knew that he couldn’t.

                “This is one fucked up day.  I got fired today and kicked out of school and now this,” Jacob looked at the floor.

                “What? Rose fired you and you got kicked out of school? What the hell?”

                “This dumb ass chick is saying that I raped her.  Me of all people.  She is saying that it started at Excelsior and then back at the dorms.  It is only temporary but it screws everything up.  Now this.  I can’t control anything in my life.  This isn’t the life I had intended to live.”

                “Wow.  I am so sorry.  I guess they have to investigate before they can say you didn’t do anything.  Don’t worry though you're a good guy and have done nothing to worry about.”

                They both looked up at each other and the same thought ran across their minds.  They stood and went to the bathroom in the hall way.  They took a deep breath and nodded.

****

                Bella woke early and stared at the ceiling.  She knew that she hadn’t parked her car in the garage when she had gotten home.  She couldn’t ride her bike while the sun was up so she was stranded in her apartment. She got out of her bed and went to her kitchen.  She brewed herself a cup of fresh coffee in her French press.  Bella sat down at her dining room table and opened her laptop.  She responded to the emails from her daughter with a heavy heart and then a few others.  Bella had made sure that Carlisle was aware of the breakup.  He knew before because he had received a very angry voicemail from Edward.  She looked up right before there was knock on her door.  She scented the air and knew it wasn’t Edward.  She got up and went to the door.  She opened the door and her mouth dropped for two reasons.  Reason number one it was Jacob.  Reason number two all of his hair was gone.  It was no more thick current of locks it was just soft short waves in a messy but attractive fashion.

                “Jacob.”

                “I came to see Jana,” he said with down cast eyes.

                “Edward told you.”

                “Yes,” she stepped aside, “he said it was an instant death and she didn’t suffer.”

                “It was,” she eyed the bag he had in his hand.

                “Good.”

                “She’s on the mantle.”

                “Is it sealed now?”

                “No.  We weren’t sure if we would scatter her or not.”

                “Okay,” he placed his bag on the table.

                Jacob walked to the mantle and grabbed her.  He held her in his arms and kissed the urn.  The sight brought tears to her eyes.  Jacob wiped his face and sat her on the table.  He opened the bag and then removed the lid.  Bella rushed to his side.

                “My hair.  She had loved it.  She braided it all the time or just brushed it,” he smiled weakly as he placed the braided hair in the urn.

                “Yeah she wouldn’t stop talking about it.  She thought you were a god.  Especially straight out of the pool.  Apparently it is a sight to behold.”

                “I guess,” Jacob said as he placed the lid back on and stared at it. 

                Bella stepped away and gave him time alone.  He whispered to her and promised he would never love again.  Her heart ached for him.  It made her think back to Edward.  He was still available.  She knew he was only a few hundred feet away.  Bella shook her head and cleared the thought away.  She sighed and went back to her laptop.  She decided to do something she had never done before.  She put up a personal ad on the internet.  She was half way through the personality evaluation when Jacob appeared in front of her.

                “Thank you,” he turned to leave.

                “Jacob,” she went to him and threw her arms around him, “let me know if you need anything.”

                “Okay.”

                Bella walked him to the door and she was about to shut it when he turned to her.

                “He’s still alive.  Please don’t give it up when it’s something that you can control.”

                With that Jacob was gone.  Bella shut the door and leaned against it.  She was about to walk away when there was another knock.  She opened it expecting it to be one of the boys.  She was shocked when it was a delivery guy.  She signed his clipboard and took the package to the dining room table. She undid the ribbon and chuckled.  Four o’clocks were arranged elegantly in the box.  The four o-clock flower was one of the rare flowers that bloomed by the light of the moon and stayed shied away during the day time hours.  She pulled the card and it just had a heart and a calligraphy ‘e’.  He had said he wouldn’t go down without a fight.  She felt as giddy as a school girl.  It had taken thought to send something so perfect.

*****

                Over the weeks that had followed Bella had received trinkets and packages of all sorts.  The last had been a basket of sunscreen and fruit juice.  He had been creative and had spent a lot of money.  She enjoyed most of all the love letters that he would slip in her mailbox.  Just parts of poetry or prose that he knew she would know.  Bella felt like a princess.  Even when Carlisle had her and Kelley across country on a mission he knew where she’d be and something as strange as a case of extra ammo would be waiting in their hotel or vehicle.  He was unique and a hopeless romantic that she cared for more and more each day.

                Bella had been on a few dates with people that had responded to the ad but had slowed down her search since the one person she had given her heart to wasn’t into quitting.  She had received one interesting email that she thought she might like.  There hadn’t been a picture so she assumed he was not on the attractive side so she didn’t respond with a picture since he had seemed to want to keep it private.  After a week of emailing back and forth with the gentleman she decided to meet him for dinner.  They had liked the old fashion feel to the blind date they kept it that way.  She had informed him she would be the one with the blue hair and orchid in her hair.

                The night had come for her blind date.  Bella looked in the mirror.  She wore her favorite black flamenco inspired skirt and emerald green alter top.  She pulled on her black Bolero jacket and grabbed her purse.  She had on fishnets and her knee high boots that hid her ankle back up gun well.  Her hair was up in a French twist sprinkled with glitter and the orchid was pinned in the center.  She checked her reflection one last time and went to meet her mystery man.  Bella caught sight of the flowers from a few weeks ago and frowned momentarily as she shut the door behind her.  She arrived ten minutes early to have time to scout the exits and be prepared to make a quick flight is necessary.  Bella chose a seat at the bar with her back to the fewest tables since there wasn’t one with her back to the wall.  She had ordered a cranberry vodka and waited.

                “Gioia,” a smooth rich voice caused her to turn around.

                “Yes,” Bella turned with a smile, her heart skipped a beat and then her jaw dropped.

                “Wow total piña colada moment,” Edward laughed softly.

                “Let me guess, no picture because you didn’t want people being shallow?”

                “Something like that,” Edward said as he sat by her, “you look amazing.”

                “Thank you.”

                “You're welcome,” he blushed.

                “So you sent me all those wonderful and humorous gifts but still searched for something else out there?” she sipped her drink.

                “I had to have a back up plan.  The crazy thing is that I hadn’t even considered anyone else on the site then I came across your profile.  You didn’t have a picture either.  I figured you were special.  I’m so glad it’s you.  So who’s Gioia?”

                “My alias.”

                “So…do you like getting caught in the rain?”

                “As long as it’s the cool rain not the hot rain.”

                “Hm I concur.  Well I say that you have to give me a chance.  We’re both here.”

                “I think you're right.”

                “Good so let’s go on this date.”

                Edward took hand and led her to the table that he had reserved.

               

               


	12. Sweethearts

                “I don’t know if I like the short hair,” Bella said as she ran her hand over his head, “but you do look very handsome.”

                “It’s a thing we decided to do because it was something that we could control.  Everything had gotten so turned upside down.  He took off way more than I even had.  He gave some to her and then kept the rest for his scrap book.  I couldn’t believe he let me cut it.”

                “Neither could I,” Bella curled up against his side on his couch.

                “What are you going to tell my dad?” Edward asked as he kissed the top of her head.

                “Nothing.  I have nothing to tell him.”

                “Ok.  I guess that means I can never take you home.”

                “Sure you can.  I have tons of costumes.”

                “I guess.  Can I come with you to work one day?  Ya know one of the days that you aren’t with my dad.”

                “Uh…I don’t know.  That isn’t really a good idea.  You could get hurt.”

                “I’d like to see you at work.”

                “Let me think about it.  For now I’ll show you my favorite job,” she said as she straddled him.

                “Hm and what is that?”

                “Pleasure,” she said and kissed him hard on the mouth.

                Bella kissed down his neck as his hands settled on her waist.  She moved back to his lips and she moved her hips in slow circles.  He moaned and gently thrust up against her.  Her fingers quickly undid the buttons on his shirt and discarded it to the floor.  His hands tugged her shirt off and immediately unclasped her bra and flung it aside.   He kissed down her neck to her breasts and began to suckle as she squirmed on his lap.  She gasped as his tongue teased her hardening flesh.  She had had enough torture and jumped from his lap.  She squeaked as his teeth grazed her when she pulled back.  She quickly pulled off his pants and boxers and shoved off the remainder of her own clothes.  She kissed his length before she eased her way down on to him.  His eyes shut slowly as he enjoyed the warmth of her around him.  He pushed up to meet her shallows thrusts.  She moved slow and determined. 

                “Damn it you're tight.  So fucking tight,” he pushed all the way in and threw his head back.

                “You love it,” she laughed wickedly as she squeezed him.

                “Dammit.  I love you.”

                She froze and looked him.  He had said it.  The words that she herself had been thinking.  She smiled and repeated the words to him.  He grabbed her by the waist and maneuvered her to her back so he could have more control.  He ran his hands through her hair as he pushed deeper into her.  He saw the emotions reflected in her eyes that mirrored his own.  She wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him closer to her.  He moved a little faster as he began to kiss her face and neck.  She moaned loudly as she took all of him into her.  He reached in between them and his fingers found her special place and he circled it with his thumb.  He was close and he wanted to bring her with him.  She was louder and her hips bucked wildly as he sent her cascading over the edge.  Her muscle contractions pushed him right behind her.  He kissed her hard on the mouth as he rode out his orgasm.  They both moaned and settled in the tingles of the aftermath.

                “Oh come on guys.  You have a bedroom dude,” Jacob said as he came from classes.

                “Sorry man,” Edward said as he shielded her body with his.

                “You’re buying a new couch,” he mumbled as he went to his room.

                “I didn’t think about it at all,” Bella said with a chuckle.

                They dressed and he went online and actually ordered another couch.  She shook her head as she remembered that he came from big money.  Old money that wouldn’t run out anytime soon.  She could only imagine what the wealth was like. She knew that he had no idea about the real depth of Carlisle’s funds.  He kept that side of his books hidden.  She only knew because it had come up in conversation a few years ago.  His family only knew about his family’s wealth and of course the steady income from his day job but had no idea about the millions he brought in through the secret research.

                “So what do you want to do now?”

                “Let me kick your ass in UFC,” Bella said as she turned on the console.

                “We’ll see who’s kicking whose ass,” he said as he put the game in.

****

                Bella had been very against it but she couldn’t give it up. She sighed and moved uncomfortably in her seat.  She knew it would keep him from asking again but she still felt nervous.  Kelley leaned over and held her hand.  She looked up at her and she nodded.  It was a comforting gesture.  She took a deep breath and got out of the car.  She signaled to Edward to join them.  He smiled and raced to the car.

                “He’ll be fine.  You’ve taken him to the range so at least he’ll be able to shoot,” Kelley said reassuringly.

                “Yea I hope so,” she buckled her seatbelt as he got in the car.

                “Thanks so much.”

                “Edward this is a once in the life time chance to do this.  I vouched for you so you cannot screw this up,” Kelley said with a stern voice.

                “I know.”

                “There’s a vest in that bag go on and put it on under you shirt,” Kelley instructed.

                “You guys are wearing one?” he asked as he unzipped the bag.

                “Yea.  They’re form fitting so that no one can tell you’ve got one on.  Be sure to secure every button and strap.  We do not want to lose you on an outing like this.  Bella would have my soul for agreeing to this,” she spoke as Bella drove to their location.

                “Ok.”

                “In the bag are also your weapons.  They are loaded so be careful.  There are no safeties on them.  There is extra ammo in there.”

                “Gotcha,” he said as he reached into the bag again, “shit these are heavier than the ones we used at the range.”

                “Then don’t pull them out until we’re there.  The last thing we need is you shooting one of us,” Kelley said and allowed a bit of humor into her voice.

                “What’s this other little bag?”

                “It contains a first aid kit, taser and water packets.  You’ll strap it to your leg once we’re out.”

                “Ok.”

                “Now this is a general snatch situation.  We’re going to try and not have to use our weapons but we can never be sure.  It all depends on if he has been warned or not.  If he starts to fire on us you get behind the thickest thing you can for cover.  Never step in front of us.  If we say duck you hit the ground like your pants are on fire.  He’s only wanted for minor stuff so we shouldn’t see too much action,” Kelley explained as she turned back to face forward.

                “Gotcha.”

                Edward was excited because he had been invited to go out.  He had asked only weeks ago.  Kelley had helped convince Bella to allowing him to do it once.  He was excited.  He went to run his hands through his hair as he remembered it wasn’t there.  He took a few deep breaths so he wouldn’t be giddy.  He watched at the scenery changed and the house became fewer with more land between them.  He was glad at least that meant that there wouldn’t be too many civilians around.  He giggled as he thought about everyone else being a civilian and he was more than that.  He watched as Kelley pulled her hair back in a ponytail and braided it.  He glanced over at Bella who had remained quiet the entire time.  He knew that she was nervous about him being there.

                “Here we are,” she whispered as she cut the engine, “the car is armored so if you have to hide get in here.”

                “Yes ma’am,” he said and watched as her lips turned upward in a small smile.

                He followed their lead as they checked their weapons and secured everything to their person.  He made sure his jacket was tight and the vest was an invisible layer under everything else.  He watched as they talked with their hands instead of mouths.  Kelley motioned for him to follow her to the front door while Bella went around the back.

                Edward heard the commotion inside and they hadn’t even stepped foot on the porch.  Kelley motioned for him to go to the left side and duck.  He obeyed.  Just as they got in place the front crashed open and the screen door knocked into Kelley.  She stood her ground and in less than a second she had her gun drawn.

                “Derek Andrews?” she asked as the man raised his hands and dropped his weapon which was a frying pan.

                “Y-yes ma’am,” he shook nervously.

                “Good you made this easy.  Hands on top your head please.”

                “Who are you?  You're not a cop there aren’t any cop cars here.”

                “You jumped bail last month and ran from Kentucky.  You didn’t get very far.  We’re here to take you in,” she pulled cuffs from her hip with her free hand.

                “What?  A female bounty hunter,” he laughed and turned to run.

                “I don’t think so,” Edward aimed his gun on him.

                “Back up,” he measured him up with his eyes.

                “Always.”

                “I have my own.”

                There came a crash from inside.  Edward being new at the job looked before Kelley could warn him not to.  Derek kicked the gun from Edwards hand and shoved Kelley.  She kept her footing as she dropped the cuffs.  She went to warn him to behave when another body plowed from the house and knocked him down the stairs.  Bella appeared shortly after jumped onto the pile.  She punched the second person in the face and knocked him out.  Derek managed to get to his feet.  Bella jumped on his back and had him in a sleeper hold.  He dropped and she cuffed him.  She stood them cuffed the other man as well.  She dusted her hands off and wiped the blood smear from her lip.

                “Bastard hit me.  Motherfucker. “

                “Wow,” Edward said.

                “You are not allowed to play with us anymore.  You could have gotten yourself hurt,” Bella said as she took the guns off him and the one that on the ground.

                “You can’t look away from the danger in front of you for a potential danger.  It could have been a dog or cat that would have cost you your life,” Kelley said as she shackled their feet.

                “Ok.  Where are you going to put them?”

                “In the trunk.  It’s set up for their transport,” she patted them down to make sure there weren’t any weapons on them.

                “Ok.”

                Edward helped load them into the trunk which was padded for their comfort.  He tried not to think about it.  He could only imagine what types of people where in there on the weekly basis.  He was dropped off at home before they took their bounties in.  He was disappointed in himself.  He had wanted to prove himself to Bella but had failed.

 

                Bella smiled over at Kelley as they headed to the downtown office.  They pulled into the parking lot and cut the engine.  Bella popped the trunk and the two men got out.  She hugged them both and took the cuffs back.

                “Thank you so much for that.  I didn’t punch you too hard did I?”

                “Naw.  I saw it coming so I had a chance to flow with it,” he rubbed his jaw.

                “You guys were so good,” Kelley said as she hugged them.

                “Your beau kind of sucks as a man,” Derek who was really Andy said.

                “Yea I know.  He wanted to see me in action but I couldn’t take him on a real hit.  I’d have too much to explain,” she counted out the money.

                “It was a bit of fun,” Michael said in his thick Australian accent.

                “Remember no telling anyone about this and we’ll take your next two Canadian hits.”

                “We won’t don’t worry. We hate going up north.”

                Bella and Kelley headed back to her apartment.  They sat down at her dining room table and looked over the files in front of them.

                “I just don’t know.  I don’t want a third.”

                “It might make it safer on big cases,” Kelley said, “I don’t really want a third either.  Maybe we can just bring people in and act like we’re looking for a third that way Mr. Cullen will be off our case.”

                “That sounds like a good idea.  How about this guy here?”

                “Rene Castillo.  Hmm…..he does have a long history of being a complete badass.  So yea we’ll shoot him an email.  Then how about this girl, Janessa Beverly?”

                “No, she has two first names.”

                “Ok,” she laughed, “how about Krista Farmer?”

                “No she gets captured too much.  Oooh what about Dotty Hamilton? At least he’d take us seriously.”

                “Ok that sounds good.  So Dotty, Rene and this chick Autumn.”

                “Perfect.  I’ll email them tonight.”

                “Great.  Well I have to run Wade is meeting me after band practice.”

                “Ok.  You crazy kids have fun.”

                Bella showered and put on her comfortable lounge pants.  She sat down in front her laptop and emailed a request to each of the three she had picked out.  Then she settled down in front the television and turned on G4 to watch AOTS before she called it a night and went to bed.


	13. Closing Up Shop

                Kelley brushed her hair up into a high pony tail and applied light eye liner to her eyes.  She checked her reflection and smiled.  Her low rise black jeans hung comfortably against her frame and the fishnet top was perfect under the crimson corset.  She smiled again and left out of the guest room.

                “Are you ready yet?” she tapped on Bella’s bedroom door.

                “Come in and tell me what you think.”

                Kelley went in and chuckled.  Bella was dressed in a leather bodice with silver trim, hip hugging leather pants, motorcycle boots and dark makeup.  It was a little out of her ordinary appearance.  She was doing lunges to make sure the leather pants would be flexible as possible incase trouble broke out.  Kelley knew they weren’t normal leather pants.  They had been specially made for runs.  Her newly violet hair was in an array of twists and spikes.

                “You look like a punk rock bounty killer.”

                “Awesome.  You don’t think the makeup is too much?”

                “I think that it looks weird on you because I’m used to a clean faced Bella but it’s applied wonderfully so it doesn’t look awful.”

                “Good.  Now for the piercings, should I take out my eyebrow ring since I’m wearing the nose ring?”

                “Nope I think it’s perfect.  He’s going to piss his pants with how hot you look.”

                “Well this is their first big show and I don’t want any lady to think his woman is a pussy.”

                “Then you have accomplished that,” she said with a laugh, “I feel like I need to change.”

                “No you look perfect.  Wade isn’t going to be able to focus.  You think if we wore weapons it would be too much?”

                “Well we can’t take guns into the venue but I am so for strapping a blade to my thigh.  I had planned on it.”

                “Great idea,” she went to her closet, “I’ve got the cutest thigh holsters for long blades.  Just don’t forget your badge so we can get in with them.”

                She fished out two gun metal blue holsters and handed one to Kelley.  They secured them and Bella handed them the blades to go in.  The hilts sparkled with smooth rhinestones.  Kelley laughed and never questioned why she had them.

                “Freesia or strawberry?” she held up the body sprays.

                “Freesia.”

                They finished getting ready and walked down to the Charger and headed to the venue to meet the band.

 

                Edward paced nervously.  They had reached the finals of the battle of the bands and he had no idea why that evening was worse than the others but he felt sick.  He ran his fingers through the short strands of hair that had begun to grow back the last couple of months.  He also knew that his girlfriend was in the crowd and that made him more nervous than the other hundreds of people that would be there.

                “Calm down.  This is just like the other days ok?  Nothing to freak out about,” David said and patted his back.

                “I don’t know.  This is the finals.  If we win this then we get money to actually record a real demo and merchandise budget.  It’s like the biggest day of our life.”

                “If you freak out Jacob’s going to freak out and we know what happens when he freaks out,” Marty reminded him.

                “Ok.  I’ll calm down.  Who has the PSP?  That will make me chill out.”

                “Here you are man,” Wade handed it to him, “where is Jacob?”

                “He’s doing the finishing touches on his song.”

                “Ok.”

                They all had found out about his lost and had given up one of their five song slots for him to do his own song.  He had worked hard on getting it together and wanted to make sure it was perfect.  Edward sat in the corner and pulled up games on the PSP to calm him down.  Wade checked over the equipment to make sure that they had everything and it was in one piece.  Marty did his vocal warm ups and David meditated in the corner.

                “Hey guys,” Kelley walked in, “one band dropped out and so you're going into the third spot.”

                “That’s the second to headliner spot.  The most memorable spot,” Wade went to her and kissed her.

                “It has nothing to do with me being the MC.  It just happened,” she said with a giggle.

                “Where’s Bella?”

                “She’s getting something done right before the show.  She’s here don’t worry.”

                Bella wanted to surprise him so she stayed away as much as possible.  Kelley left back out to take care of the other duties that had been handed her.  She had called in favors to a friend to be part of the final show.

                It was finally their time and Kelley went up to the microphone once they had their equipment set up.  The audience calmed down and she turned the microphone back on.

                “That was Sunday Morning that just closed their set, give them another hand,” they clapped and then went back quiet, “next is a very eclectic band.  You’ll recognize them from local shows and their practice space at the Kinstone.  Without further adieu let’s hear it for Marty, Wade, Edward, David and Jacob who make up Heroes and Villains!”

                The band took the stage and launched right into their first song.  It was a sound like no other a perfect pairing of Pearl Jam like grunge kissed by the melodic soul rock inspiration of Maroon 5.  As soon as that song ended they went straight into “Daylight”.  Marty knew how to work the crowd and that would pay off for them when it came time for votes.  Since it had been their most popular song he allowed singing from the crowd into his microphone. 

                “As you know we’re Heroes and Villains.  We have Jacob on the drums, Edward on bass also lending his vocals, David on guitar, Wade on keyboards who also lends his vocals and I am of course Marty.”

                The crowd went wild.

                “Thank you. Now we have three songs left.  Our next song is a cover. We have of course changed from the last time this time,” he chuckled, “we are covering ‘Hallowed be thy name’. No worries I have practiced this in my sleep I promise not to disappoint.”

                They went into the Iron Maiden song and the crowd erupted with applause.  They were shocked at how well it was presented and the fact that Marty was able to perform every vocal as well as Bruce himself.  He never cracked and shared the same range effortlessly.  He was ecstatic about the performance because it was one of the hardest songs they had to perform that night.  It especially put David to the test but he prevailed as well.  Once finished the song the audience went wild.  Marty laughed as bras and thongs appeared on the stage.  He took a bow and then they went into ‘Devastated’.  Once the song was done they began to move the other equipment and others came up to assist and Marty went back to the microphone. Edward glanced into the audience and still there was no sign of Bella.  He sighed.  He picked up the violin and made sure it was ready.  David took Jacob’s place behind his drums and Wade rearranged his keyboards to allow more space in the front.  This was the first time he would be using both in the battle of the bands set.

                “We have another song.  You might find it familiar if you were listening to music back in the 90’s.  It is another cover since we are allowed two.  This is the first time you will hear the vocal styles of Mr. Jacob Black.  Enjoy and thank you for everything.”

                Marty knew what was about to happen because Jacob had discussed it with him.  He hoped that Edward would be able to keep his cool and not get distracted.  He went to the side of the stage and cleared way.  Edward was under the impression that Rosalie would be taking up the female part of the duet.  He began to slowly pull the bow across the strings as the lights dimmed and a spot light aimed to the side of the stage.

                “They call me the wild rose, but name was Elisa Day,” Bella walked up the stairs as her voice carried beautifully throughout the venue.

                Edward’s eyes grew large with surprise for many different reasons.  She was gorgeous as a punk rock goddess, pure shock and her voice was amazing.  He was sure that Kylie Minogue would approve of her representation in the song.  She winked at him as she stopped in the middle of the stage.  He never faltered.

                “From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one,” Jacob sang as he climbed the stairs from the opposite side.

                The song was dramatically beautiful.  It spoke of beauty that was lost.  It wasn’t for the exact interpretation of lyrics that Jacob had picked the song.  He had thought of it as he thought about Jana.  Beauty that was so breathtakingly amazing could not last forever and would eventually be removed from this world. 

                “As I kissed her good bye, I said ‘all beauty must die’ and lent down and planted a rose between her teeth,” Jacob closed the song with a single tear escaping his eye.

                With his last note the lights went out.  There were moments of a brief silence as the crowd recovered from their experience.  Then thunderous applause echoed almost shattering ear drums from the audience.  When the lights went back on there was no one on the stage.  The last band hesitantly had gone to the stage and began to set up.

                Edward searched the hallway to the dressing room for Bella.  He had watched her head that way.  He was pulled into a room at the end of the hall.  He turned and relaxed as she pressed up against him.  She kissed him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

                “You are so sexy,” he said as she pulled back.

                “Not as sexy as you on the violin.  That was some hot shit.  Almost as hot as Lestat.”

                “Well since I’m real and not fictional I’ll take that as being wonderful,” he kissed her again.

                “So?”

                “What?” he teased.

                “You know what.”

                “You are amazing.  That was….wow…yea.  I didn’t know you could sing.”

                “I know.  Jake came by and asked if I would do it.  Jana had told him about the band that we had back in LA,” she kissed his neck.

                “You were in a band?” he brushed her away from his neck.

                “Yup.”

                “Like Lacuna Coil?”

                “No, more like Spice Girls,” she removed her arms from around him.

                “Wow you were in a girl band.”

                “Whatever.  I can’t play anything but the flute and that does not make a rock band,” she said as she sat on the tiny desk.

                “I get that.  You are just full of surprises.  I like that about you.”

                “I know.”

                “So what are your plans after this?”

                “I have a run.  I’m just here to make sure the ladies don’t get any ideas about trying to walk away with my man,” she pulled him in for a kiss.

                “Mm…I love your lips.”

                “We could do it really quickly before you have to go back out there.”

                “No,” he chuckled.

                “It was worth a shot.”

                They kissed for a few minutes then headed back to the main area.  The instruments and equipment was packed back in the van.  The band agreed that her performance was worth the secrecy.  She blushed at all the compliments.  She hadn’t been used to the attention.  She made sure she hung on to Edward’s arm as they stood there so none of the other women who were looking for their rock star fix would push up on him. She let him go when they had to be on stage.

                “So,” Kelley stood in front all the bands, “we have our final four bands.  Sunday Morning, Trial Run, Blazing Marshmallows and Heroes and Villains.  They have all rocked the house tonight,” applause, “you have tonight to vote via text message and through the ballad box here.  Make sure you vote by midnight.  All votes will be tallied and the winner will be announced tomorrow through the website.  The winning band will of course get their call before we post it.  The prizes as you know are funds and studio time for a demo, a budget for merch and a spot at our birthday celebration.  Let’s hear it again for our bands!”

                The crowd applauded and there were wolf whistles as the bands stood on the stage for a few more minutes.  When Edward made his way back to the bar where he left Bella he was worried.  She was in a heated argument with a very large man.  He looked around and saw Emmett he tried to get his attention but failed.  He pushed his way through the crowd to rescue his girlfriend.  He paused as she shoved him away from her.  He had tried to hit her.  The people around them backed up.  He swung at her again.  Bella caught his arm, twisted his wrist until his entire arm reacted, swept his leg under him and brought her elbow down on his neck as she let his arm go.  He hit the floor hard and dazed.  It had only been seconds and he didn’t know what to do.  Edward made it to her side.

                “Don’t ever touch a lady like that again,” she spat on him and turned around.

                “Bella.”

                “Hey honey,” she smiled brightly and kissed him as if nothing had just happened.

                “What was that about?”

                “He grabbed my ass.”

                “Oh ok.”

                “I knew if there was a commotion that Hells Bells was probably involved,” a tall blonde man said from behind her.

                She turned and ran to him.

                “Mike!  I’m so glad that you could make it,” she hugged him tightly.

                “I knew you’d be performing and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.  It was tearfully beautiful performance.  This must be the elusive specimen of male that has captured the heart of our beloved Bella.  Hi I’m Mike Ivey.”

                “Edward.  You're her tattooist right?”

                “Yup.  For several years.”

                “So you’ve done all twelve?”

                “It’s thirteen,” Mike said.

                “I only counted twelve,” he pouted and turned to Bella.

                “You're just not lucky enough for the last one,” she winked.

                “But we’ve…” he stopped himself.

                “Don’t,” Mike patted his shoulder and laughed.

                They chatted for a few more minutes then headed out.  He walked her to her car as they waited for Kelley.  He leaned her against the car and kissed her.

                “You know how to make a lady want to skip work,” she said with a smile.

                “You could.  I can take care of you and you know it.  You’d never have to work another day.”

                “I know that but it wouldn’t be me.”

                “Isabella?” Jasper called as he walked up to them.

                “Mr. Cullen,” she pushed Edward away.

                “How are you?” he held out his hand.

                “Great.  How are you?”

                “Excellent just came out to support the little brother.  How long have you guys been….a couple?” he eyed Edward.

                “A few months.”

                “Really and why hasn’t he brought you over?”

                “Well….”

                “Dad?” he chuckled.

                “Yea.  He doesn’t know about us,” Bella said.

                “He might not take too kindly with him dating his favorite personal assistant.”

                Edward looked over to Bella. It would make sense instead of scaring the family to lie about who she was.

                “I thought that was you on the stage.  You look so….different.  You have a beautiful voice.”

                “Thank you so much.”

                “Well I’ll let you crazy kids go.  Ed don’t forget brunch with mom tomorrow.”

                “Sure thing.”

                They watched him walk off.

                “This isn’t good,” Bella said.

                “He won’t tell.  Jasper is good at keeping secrets.  So when did you meet him?”

                “He comes by the office and has lunch with your dad at least twice a week.”

                “I better think about what to say to dad just in case.”

                “Yea.  Well here comes Kelley I gotta get going.”

                “See you later,” he kissed her and headed back in.

                Bella sighed as they got in the car and headed to the office to pick up their latest case.

*****

                Edward and the guys waited by the phone the next morning and sighed.  It was after noon and they hadn’t heard anything from the sponsors.  They had given up and were about to head out for lunch when the phone rang.  They looked at each other and Edward picked up the line.  After a few minutes he squealed.  Once they were done he hung up.  They had won.  It had been close between them and Blazing Marshmallows but they had won by fifteen votes.  They had scheduled time the following day for photo shoot and start on their album.

                “Wow this is really happening.”

                “It is.  We are going to make it,” Jacob said as he spun his drum sticks.

                “This is so amazing.  We’ve got to get ideas together for videos and designs for merchandise.”

                They went out for a celebratory lunch.  Edward tweeted from his phone as well to let the world know that they had won. He knew that they were one step closer to getting signed.  David updated their MySpace from his laptop while they ate.  They spent the afternoon gathering ideas.  They made arrangements to meet at Edward’s apartment the next morning to head over the sponsors to sign everything and for the meeting.

                When he got him he went straight to Bella’s to share the good news.  He knew she would just be out of the bed since it was late afternoon.  He smiled down at the key she had finally given him.  He unlocked the door and went into the apartment.

                “Hey cutie,” she said as she sat at her laptop.

                “We won.”

                “I know,” she jumped up and hugged him, “I am so proud of you.  I think you’ve been good that you get to see my last tattoo.”

                “Oh really?”

                “Yup.  Sit down.”

                He sat down in a chair at the dining room table.  She danced around in front of him.  She pretended to take off her shirt then shook her head.  She went to undo the tie of her sweat pants and giggled as she shook her head.  Then she lifted her leg to his lap and began to pull the material up.

                “Nope not there either,” she giggled again then lifted her leg to his shoulder.

                “I can’t imagine where it is as many times as I’ve seen you undressed.”

                She wiggled her eyebrows and removed her sock and pressed him back in the chair.  She wiggled her toes against him and he was confused.  She rolled her eyes and nodded toward her foot.  He took her foot in his hand and looked.  He laughed.

                “Wow.  I would have never noticed it.”

                On the arch of her left foot in kanji was the tattoo that read ‘lucky thirteen’.  He kissed her foot and let her go.

                “You are crazy,” he said.

                “Yea but you love my crazy ass, sparrow,” she sat back in his lap.

                “I sure do.  Why do you call me sparrow?”

                “You’re gonna laugh.”

                “Tell me.”

                “You remember in the beginning of Fable two where everything begins.”

                “Yea.”

                “She called her younger sibling sparrow.  It kind of fit you the same.  It just stuck.”

                “Wow.  You are such a dork.”

                “Whatever Nerdward.”

                “Really Nerdward?”

                “Yup and I’m sticking with it.”

                He began to tickle her.  They went to the floor and he had her on her back as he continued the tickle assault.

                “Ok…ok I give no more nerdward promise.”

                “I love you.”

                They began to kiss passionately and Bella stood them up.  They went to her bathroom because she did not want to be sore from having sex on the floor.

*****

                Bella held back the tears as Carlisle brought the leather across her again.  She hadn’t expected him to react the way he had.  Jasper had done very well until a few months had passed and they had gone to lunch together.  He had let it slip without a thought when they had begun talks of a talent show for one of the hospitals that they donated to regularly.  The night of the battle of the bands had been brought up.  Carlisle stopped and let her hang against the wall.

                “You not only endangered our research but my own son.  I thought we had ended this all that time ago.  I see now you are easily distracted by him. I don’t like to show this side of me.  No one should have to see this side of me but you bring me no choice.  I don’t think you have learned anything.  You are like my own child.  My first successful being that survived through all the surgeries and experiments.  You were my protégé but now I cannot trust you.  You have allowed yourself to be emotionally weak.  You know what that means.”

                “Yes sir.”

 

                Edward hummed as he made his way from the comic book store to his car.  He had the perfect night planned.  He wasn’t ready to propose but he was going to make her a promise.  He had purchased the one thing he knew she would appreciate his dorkiness.  He smiled as he looked at the blue velvet box that contained his promise to her.  He got in his car and plugged in his iPod ‘Soleil’ by Gackt blared through his speakers.   He had picked up her new favorite genre J-rock.  It was addictive.  He headed to his apartment to shower before his date.  As he made his way the traffic began to slow down.  He grew impatient as the traffic dragged on.  Then heard the sirens and saw why the traffic had begun to crawl. 

                There had been several cars involved in an accident.  He tried to maneuver his way around it but no one would let him pass.  As he got closer he saw the paramedics pulling people from the vehicles with assistance from the police.  Then his heart stopped.  He knew that Charger anywhere.  The windshield was blown out and he saw smears of blood and a body lay to the side the paramedics worked on her body.  His stomach clenched as he pulled to a stop on the side of the road.  He jumped out his car and ran to the scene.  Police stopped him and told him to get back in his car and move on.

                “No! I know her.  Bella!” he shouted as he pushed against the two police officers, “Bella don’t you die on me!”

                “You know her?”

                “Its….she’s my wife,” tears streamed down his face.

                “Sir, come on over here,” the officer calmed down and steered him to his cruiser.

                “Bella,” he cried.

                “She’s alive sir.  They revived her.  They’re trying to keep her stable.”

                “Sh-she’s going to be ok?”

                “I can’t say she’ll be perfect but she looks like she’ll make it.  I just need you to calm down.  They’ll take her to the hospital and do their best to make sure she makes it back to you.”

                “You look familiar,” he gazed at him as he calmed down, “Derek?”

                “No sir I’m Officer Corey Daniels.  Why don’t you wait in your car? We’ll get you an escort to the hospital.”

                “Ok,” he felt a prick in his side as he stood then nothing.

 

                Edward jerked awake.  He looked around and realized he was in his own bed.  He sighed.  It had all been a dream.  He smiled and took a quick shower to wash the sweat off.  He made his way to Bella’s apartment.  He used his key to go in.  He stopped as the sun flooded the entire apartment.  The entire empty apartment.  There was no furniture and the hole he had accidently put in the wall was gone.  He blinked and began to panic.  Maybe it wasn’t a dream.  She had died and they had moved her stuff out.  He raced to the rental office.

                “Hey Jessica.  Old man Jenkins apartment how long has it been vacant?”

                “Uh like almost two years.  You know someone who is looking?”

                “No there was girl there.  Her name’s Isabella Swan.  She had been there for almost a year.”

                “Uh Edward no one has lived there since Mr. Jenkins moved out.”

                He exhaled sharply and raced back to his place and found Jacob there.

                “Jake where’s Bella?”

                “Who?”

                “Bella.  My girlfriend.”

                “Dude you haven’t had a girlfriend in years,” he laughed.

                “No she is,” he explained urgently, “real.  She sang with you at the battle of the bands remember?”

                “That was Rose.”

                “No you dated her best-friend Jana.  Who was killed and that was why you sang that song.”

                “Man, I don’t know what you're smoking but you better watch it.  It’s got you crazy,” he went back to his room.

                Edward stood in the kitchen.  There was no way that a person could just disappear.  He went to his room and lay on his bed.  He cried from frustration.  He didn’t know what to do.  She was gone.  Then he thought about it.  He grabbed his car keys and went to Wade’s house.

                “Wade, where’s Kelley?” he asked once he opened the door.

                “Uh dude her and I split months ago remember?  She went to school in London and we weren’t sure if our relationship would work.”

                “What about her friend Bella?”

                “Who?”

                “NOO!” he went back to his car.

                As he sat in his car something under the seat got his attention.  He pulled out the blue velvet box and opened it.  He stared down at the exact replica of the Evenstar necklace.  He had been planning on giving it to her.  He closed the box and sat it on the seat.  He checked his cell phone a couple of days had passed.  He realized he had to get to work.  He sped to work.  He was late.  He knew there was a reasonable explanation.  He knew that there was no way everyone could forget a person.  He got to work and went to her box.  There was no label and no comics.  He began to weep.  The one person he had given his heart to had disappeared.

                “Dude, are you ok?” David asked with his brow creased with worry.

                “I don’t think I’m going to be able to stay I feel like shit.”

                “Sure go on home man you kinda look like crap.”

                Edward made it home and locked himself in his room.  Sometimes he cried other times he just lay there thinking of her.  He didn’t know how long he had stayed in there but Jacob came days later and pulled him out.  He threw him in the shower. Edward showered and went to the kitchen.

                “You done mopping around now?  It’s been a week and I think it is time to get you back to reality.”

                “Jake….you have no idea.  I loved this girl.  She was wonderful.”

                “Sure.  I think you play second life too much and have gotten your lives confused.  Come on.  Emmett is throwing a party in honor of our debut single release onto itunes.  We can’t miss it.”

                “Ok.  I don’t have a job any more do I?”

                “I had David put in vacation time for you.”

                “Ok.”

                Edward pepped himself up and headed out with Jacob.  Once he got there he was fine.  His mood lightened and he got excited.  He was on the verge of being a rock star and there was nothing that could replace that feeling.

*****

                It had been two months and Edward had figured that it had just been an elaborate dream of some sort.  There was nothing to tie him and this woman together.  He had even begun to see a therapist to make sure he wasn’t going crazy.  He needed to speak with someone anyway since he mentally needed to prepare for life of touring since they would hit the road for six weeks of the east coast.  His dad had backed some of the money for touring.  He had even asked his dad about his mystery girl and he had no idea either so he knew it had to have been a dream.

                He finished his final touches on the store and glanced at the clock it was only a few minutes before closing.  He had everything prepared to be out as quickly as possible so he could head back to the apartment and finish his packing.  He heard the bell above the door and groaned.  He hated last minute customers.  He didn’t bother to look for who it was.  Then he heard a mousy but sexy voice singing along with the radio.  He paused.  He made his way to the front of the store.  He froze.  He rubbed his eyes.  She didn’t disappear.  Her long hair was a natural chestnut brown and she was dressed simply in jeans and a tee shirt with a denim jacket over it.  Her clothes were normal not tailored like he had grown accustom to.  She had gathered several different comics in her arms.  He recognized them as the same that she had last time.

                “Oh hi,” she turned and almost ran into him.

                “Bella?”

                “Uh, yea.  How do you know my name?  Only my family calls me Bella.  My friends call me Izzie.”

                “I know you. You’re just as beautiful as ever,” he touched her face gently.

                “Th-thank you,” she blushed but leaned into his touch.

                “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

                “No but I believe in instant animal attraction,” she said and kissed the palm of his hand.

 

                Carlisle stood at the door and smiled.  The least he could do was give them a fair chance at love.  As soon as he realized they had found a way that would turn her back to normal without her age catching up to her he knew he had no choice.  It was the perfect punishment all the same.  It had taken time and several dozens of people but he had succeeded in erasing Bella from the minds of all those in their life.  A fresh start with nothing but honesty would keep their relationship solid.  Carlisle went to her Volvo and pulled the spark plugs out.  Edward would have to take her home.  He got into his Lexus and headed home to his family. 

“Let love lead the way,” he whispered with a happy smile.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed. Thank you so much!

**Author's Note:**

> This was written before I had read any of the books so there may be OOC moments b/c I was just writing based on character descriptions I found online and from a friend.


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